


and at once, I knew I was not magnificent

by goldenwonder



Series: it comes and goes in waves [3]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Broken down cars, County Fairs, Everybodys happy!, Gen, House Parties, Ice Cream, Nothing like seeing your ex EVERYWHERE you go, Post Season 2, Sort Of, Summer, Underage Drinking, awkward interactions, pool parties, protective steve in every sense, will they wont they
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-03-05 06:41:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13382310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenwonder/pseuds/goldenwonder
Summary: Steve envies the fact all Dustin has to worry about for the summer is what to do on any given day. Nancy figures she needs a friend outside of her ex and her current boyfriend. Billy's stuck in the past while trying to make up for it in the present.Summertime in Hawkins. 1985.





	1. you're taking up a fraction of my mind

~

 

Breaking into summer had never been so boring.

 

After an incredibly eventful fall, Steve was looking forward to not having to worry about school, or demodogs, or anything other than the heat and what to do.

 

Turning down Main Street, Dustin was still convincing him that this party was a good idea after Steve already agreed.

 

“It’s the perfect way to usher us into the next stage of our life: high school. You’d be doing us a solid one, Steve. Plus, Hopper won’t let El go to the public pool, so I thought-“

 

“El, that- that’s the girl with the short hair, right?”

 

“The one that single handedly saved us, all of Hawkins, and the world as we know it? Yeah, that’s her. Anyway, we each pitched in 2 dollars so we could get some snacks. I don’t think you know how to grill hamburgers, do you?”

 

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Steve says, pulling into the parking space in front of the general store. He doesn’t know how he keeps getting roped into these kids’ shenanigans, but he’s stopped questioning it by now. After that November, he found himself without a girlfriend and a purpose to life. He supposed he found that purpose in a group of kids and a baseball bat with nails.

 

“Because that would be, totally awesome. How much do you think we can get with twelve dollars? Lucas and Will want Coca Cola, but I’m more of a Sprite man, myself…” Dustin says as they climbed out. Steve didn’t really mind Dustin’s talking. He actually found himself learning from him, but not always through knowledge. He could dance his way through Dungeons & Dragons by now (not that he’d been invited to actually play), and understood the concept of Dragon’s Lair. He also learned little by little what actually happened two years before with Will, and the whole Upside Down fiasco. Turns out El is actually pretty badass, with crushing people’s heads in and destroying a multi-dimensional monster. 

 

“We’ll see, okay? How much you got again?” He questions as he opens the door. 

 

“Twelve dollars- Hi, Mrs. Byers! -“ Steve threw a wave over his shoulder as they passed the front counter. “But we also need chips and stuff-“ 

 

Steve caught sight of a blur of fabric disappear from behind one of the aisles, and he turned his head down. He follows Dustin down the aisle before Dustin stops.

 

“What’s with your face?”

 

“What? Nothing’s wrong with my face.” Steve says defensively. 

 

“You’re like… all mushy looking. Your face is red!” Dustin laughs, pointing at him. Steve smacks his hand away,

 

“Keep walking, shithead.” He says. Dustin turns, and looks up at the array of chips. His mouth hangs open slightly, and his eyes scan the rows.

 

“Shit, I didn’t think this through.” He says.

 

“Mind if I cut in?” A voice says, and Dustin turns so fast he almost bumps into Steve. Steve grins, 

 

“Not at all.” He says, and Carrie smiles. 

 

“Hi, Steve.” She greets, reaching over and taking a bag. 

 

“Hi, Carrie.” He says, and Dustin’s mouth snaps shut. 

 

“You know Steve?” Dustin said, as if just registering her presence. She nods, laughing lightly,

 

“Yes. That’s what friends typically do, is say hi to one another. You babysitting, Steve?” She shifted her gaze to him, and Dustin’s face contorted into a look of disgust.

 

“What? N-“ but Steve grabbed his shoulder, 

 

“Yeah. You know how they can be. Right, Dusty?” He says, ruffling his hair and Dustin took a step back, looking at him aghast. 

 

“Dusty?” Carrie watches them with quiet amusement, a light smile on her lips as she balanced the plastic basket on her hip. 

 

“Your summer been okay?” He questions, and she shrugs.

 

“I guess. Lifeguarding at the pool gets some cash flow, I suppose. And you?”

 

“Fine. Really it’s- it’s good.” He says with a light smile. She nods as well, before silence falls between them, and Dustin clears his throat. He gives Steve a pointed look and he begins to panic.

 

“I, um- You should come over tomorrow, Carrie. I’m having a party. It’s really lowkey, with swimming and… stuff.” He says, feeling the tips of his ears burn. Since when did he become so flustered talking to  _ girls  _ before? And with  _ Carrie Summerman  _ of all people?

 

“Sure. That would be nice. Time?”

 

“Uh…” He looks to Dustin for help and Dustin only crosses his arms, looking at him expectantly.

 

“3:00? That sounds about right.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Yeah? Okay, um, awesome. Yeah, you know where I live?”

 

“Yes. I’ll be fine.” She laughs, and begins walking past them. 

 

“I’ll see you, at 3.” She says over her shoulders. He nods, giving her a half-hearted salute, and when she is gone, he turns to Dustin who’s still looking at him like  _ that. _

 

_ “Dusty?  _ Really, Steve? What are you, my mom?” 

 

“Hm, I think plain chips will be fine.” Steve says, grabbing two off the shelf. Dustin rolls his eyes,

 

“I have literally, and I mean  _ literally,  _ never seen you so flustered before. Were you ever like that around Nancy?” Steve turns at that,

 

“Hey, shut it. Do you want a ride home, or do you wanna walk?” He questions, raising an eyebrow threateningly. Dustin opens his mouth, considers it, then closes it. Steve nods, and heads to the drinks section. 

 

“This isn’t over.” Dustin grumbles, and follows Steve begrudgingly.

 

“You forget to mention to her that this “party” is gonna be all soon-to-be freshman.” He says as they look at the stacks of six packs that screamed a “two for the price of one!” deal. In truth, Steve didn’t even consider it. He wasn’t sure what was going through his mind. He had always considered Carrie a friend, especially during high school, but seeing her out, and tan, and actually happy to see  _ him…  _ it made him lose his shit, obviously.

 

“It won’t be weird if I invite Jonathan and Nancy.” He says, and Dustin grabs a case of Cola and Sprite.

 

“Right. Because  _ that  _ won’t be an awkward situation waiting to happen.”

 

“Dustin, I’m over Nancy. It’s fine. I don’t mind, swear to god.” He says as they rounded the corner and Dustin made them stop by the candy section.

 

“Ooookay,” Dustin drawls, “But I’m just saying… if they don’t show up, it’s gonna be lame that you invited a girl to a “babysitting party.”” Dustin says, grabbing a few Musketeer bars. Steve rolls his eyes,

 

“What was I supposed to say?”

 

“You don’t want to admit we’re just hanging out?”

 

“It’s not like that-“

 

“Okay, Steve.” Dustin says as they walk to the front. “I’ll let it slide purely because the look on your face the entire conversation was priceless.” 

 

Steve sighs, knowing Dustin was never going to let this die. Dustin sets their items on the counter, grinning at Joyce Byers.

 

“Do I still get that family-friend discount?”

 

~

 

“It was so weird. It was like he hadn’t ever seen a girl before. It was like when Lucas looks at Max.” Dustin explains, and Lucas makes a face. 

 

“It’s the look of  _ love,  _ Dustin. I’m sure you made that face when you looked at Dart!”

 

“And may he Rest In Peace. Anyway, guys, the point is he invited an  _ older girl  _ to our party that isn’t Nancy. Think of what this could do for us!”

 

“Uh, absolutely nothing. No one cares.” Lucas replies. Dustin had invited Will and Lucas to talk party plans after he had gathered the items with Steve. Mike was currently visiting Eleven, and therefore absent from party plans. He had been going back and forth lately, and sometimes the boys would see El when Mike brings her to his basement to watch as they play D&D (they were still trying to teach her). Mike was excited for El to be out in the world, even if it was just in Steve’s backyard swimming pool. The boys were eager to get to know her outside of her mage persona, wanting to know what a girl as badass as her does on the weekends.

 

“Isn’t this party supposed to be technically secret? Because of what Hopper said?” Will chimes in, and Dustin sighs.

 

“Dammit. That’s right. Party members only. Plus one, according to Steve.” 

 

“So, Steve is a part of our party now? Officially?” Lucas questions. 

 

“Uh, yeah. You saw him when he went out to fight those demodogs! We need a Fighter, anyway. Someone to do the heavy lifting.” 

 

“Wait,  _ what?”  _ Will asks incredulously. The boys then delved into that night they tried to lure Dart to the junkyard, only to have 7 others join him. They may have exaggerated Steve’s heroics, but the point got across pretty quickly. 

 

Once the hype settled, they sprawled out on the couches and chairs trying to combat the heat with fans and the AC running high. The TV drones in the background, some sitcom they settled on for background noise.

 

“Hey, should I wear my green trunks, or my red ones?” Lucas questions, staring up at the ceiling.

 

“Does it matter?” Dustin says, taking off his hat and shaking his hair. Patting it down, he contemplated a hair cut. Maybe just a trim, for the summer.

 

“Well, I wanna know which one Max will like best.” 

 

Will begins laughing and Dustin throws his hat in Lucas’ face.

~

“Okay, everything is in place. People should be arriving… now.” Dustin said, looking down at his watch. Steve looks around expectantly, but there was no movement. They had all of the chairs pulled out by the pool, a table set up with food and drinks. Steve was lounging on one of the long chairs, sunglasses on. Dustin had taken off his hat and wore just his swimming trunks, and the sun was beating down on them. While it never got blistering hot in Hawkins, it was still enough to be uncomfortable.

“Do you really expect people to show up on the dot?” 

“Well,  _ someone  _ has to be here-“ and he heard voices as the side gate opens. Lucas and Will pad in, towels tucked under their arms, eyes wide with excitement. Dustin grins toothily, and waves.

A chorus of “ _ heeeys”  _ sounded as they met halfway, talking excitedly as they walked to one of the chairs. They threw their shirts and their towels on a chair, and then looked to the pool hesitantly.

“Should we wait until-“ 

“Hey, look!”

Mike emerged from the gate first, but paused to look back and gestured for someone to follow. Eleven sidles in, her arms wrapped protectively around her towel. Mike was talking to her indistinctly as they came to the group, and when the boys greeted them, El smiles.

Steve saw Hopper stick his head in. Giving him a swift salute, he was gone. 

“Here She is! The lady of the hour!” Dustin pronounced. Eleven looks to the boys warmly, and smiles.

“Hi.” She says, looking around inquisitively. Steve then stands up, walking over.

“Steve! This is Eleven. We call her El. She-“

“Yeah, I know she saved us all. Twice.” He looks to her, a hand on his hip awkwardly as he nods to her.

“Hi. I’m-“

“Steve.” She says, and he nods.

“Yep.”

She turns away after looking over him, and then to the pool. The boys talk about swimming excitedly, and Mike shows her where to put her towel and her oversized sundress that must have been picked out by Hopper at the thrift store.

Steve goes back to his seat, kicking back and opened a soda as the kids jumped in. El needed some coaxing, and Dustin and Lucas showed her the shallow part where she made her way in slowly. She looked terrified, but the boys cheered her on.

The gate opened once more, and Steve sat up so fast he almost spilled his drink on his T-shirt. Carrie walks in, bag and towel on one arm, sunglasses on her head, and her bikini top over her jean shorts. The commotion in the pool lessened, and she stops about halfway, looking to the pool.

“Hi, Carrie!” Dustin waves. She smiles, though it was uncertain, and waves back. El cowers back to the stairs but Lucas and Will assure her that she’s a friend. Carrie doesn’t even seem to notice her as she walks to the chair beside Steve’s.

He stands quickly, and pushes his sunglasses up.

“Hey.”

“Hey…. why do you look so surprised to see me? You did say 3, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, it’s just… I’m glad you made it.” He nods, and gestures for her to sit. She sets her bag on the ground, spreading her towel on the blanket and sits. He offers her a drink and she waves him off.

“Is this… everyone?” She questions, gesturing to the pool of youngsters. Steve shakes his head,

“Max still hasn’t show up, but that should be it. I invited some more people, they may show later.” He did attempt to reach out to Nancy to invite her and Johnathan, but she said they would be doing something else later. Dustin’s words echoed in his ears, and he was beginning to kick himself.

“Are they people over the age of 15?” She quips, and he looks at her before realizing she was joking. She laughs,

“It’s fine, Steve. I know you and Dustin are close. I’ve seen you guys together before, you seem like good friends.”

“Really? Well- Yeah, yeah I guess we are. Sorta.” He shrugs, taking a sip of his drink passively. When you’ve seen the shit that they have, you tend to go to people with similar trauma. And did they both have some trauma to share between them.

“It’s sweet.” She says, and he grins.

“You should have brought your sister, then.”

“I don’t think she’s old enough for… that.” She says as Will was dunked under the water by Lucas, and Dustin did a cannonball that sprayed everyone. Steve makes a face, nodding in agreement.

“You’re probably right.” 

A few minutes later, the gate opens and Max struts in. She looks pissed, until the boys say hello in unison. He can see the faces of both Mike and El of passiveness, but they do say hello. 

Carrie sits with her legs stretched out, opening up to the sun. She looks up when Max enters, and Steve had gotten up to get another drink. He carries a water bottle to Carrie, extending it out to her before he hears the group fall silent. Turning to the gate, they see Billy holding it open with one hand. Carrie shifts just the slightest, and turns away, taking the water bottle. Billy slams the gate shut behind him, and things remain tense for a moment until Max jumps in with a splash. 

“So, we have some food up in this party?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that didn't last long, right?
> 
> This is basically a pet project. I have so many random things written for this, now I just gotta smash them into order... Sort of. 
> 
> I'm seeing this as a story focused mainly on Steve, the OFC, and eventually Billy. I want to write occasionally about some of the kids for test-writing purposes, like in this chapter. Feel free to hate me, but I couldn't resist, dammit. 
> 
> I'll be uploading periodically, not really rushing this. I really want to flesh some things out before I really commit, i'm sure you guys will understand.
> 
> And yes, expect plenty of tension/angst for Hawkin's favorite bad boy. Always loved writing him!
> 
> Please, dear lord, let me know if I'm doing anything absurd. I'm taking these characters into an environment/time that they haven't explored, and I'm a little mortified that I'll get too OOC. So, let me know and drop a review! I'd love to hear honestly anything, you guys are amazing.
> 
> -K


	2. shadows settle on the place that you left

~

 

The kids actually began to warm up to Carrie as the party went on. They were still wary of course, but Eleven had a fascination with her. She asked her how her hair was so long and straight, where she gets her clothes. Her eyes sparkled around the girl, and Mike heard her describe her as “pretty” several times.

 

Max was the one who had the hardest time getting to open up to her. She had never spoken to Carrie, not even when her brother was dating her for the longest time. She was surprised Carrie even knew her name.

 

Max had a hard time believing that this was the girl that dated Billy. She was so nice, and calm, and _fun._ She instructed Lucas and Will how to do dives, and taught El how to tread water.

 

“You’re really good at that.” Steve says when she sighs and sits on the chair beside him. The kids were stuffing themselves with junk food and talking excitedly, huddled together under the overhang.

 

“At swimming? I would hope so. I’m working at the public pool as a lifeguard, starting Friday.” She says, and he raises his eyebrows.

 

“Huh. Really?” She nods, and pushes her wet hair back, pulling it up in a ponytail.

 

“Gotta make some money somehow.” She laughs.

 

“I guess I’ll have to stop by some time, to swim, of course.” He says with a grin. She smiles, turning away and he thought he could see her blush. But, with the sun and the heat, he wasn’t one hundred percent sure.

 

“Hey, Steve! You should show us that, quote, “perfect dive” you told us about!” Dustin calls, and Carrie raises an eyebrow.

 

“Steve Harrington, diving extraordinaire?” She muses. Steve sighs dramatically, standing and taking off his shirt,

 

“Okay, Okay, only because you guys are _so_ eager. I was on the swim team for a little, you know…” he says, and Carrie nods.

 

“I think I remember this. Was it the speedo or the swim cap that turned you away?” she said as he walked to the edge. He glanced back at her.

 

“Swim cap, obviously.” He says, running a hand through his hair and turned back to the water. The boys looked up at him excitedly from the shallow end, and he waves his hands.

 

“Alright, so you gotta make sure when you dive that you keep your arms and legs straight. It takes grace, poise to dive perfectly. Right?” he says, and Dustin and Lucas nod wildly. Steve shifts on his feet, nodding to himself.

 

“Right…” he says, shrugging and leans forward, arching his body as he dove in. It was nearly perfect, with minimal splashes. Carrie nods, amused, and clapped when he resurfaced.

 

“That was beautiful, Steve!” Carrie calls. Dustin nods.

 

“Like a majestic dolphin.” He says, and Steve rolls his eyes, splashing Dustin as he swam past him back to the edge, pulling himself up. Flipping his hair, he pushed it back and stood, walking to the chairs. He flopped down on one, putting back on his sunglasses.

 

“Told you. Swim team taught me something, at least.” He says, and Carrie rolls her eyes with a smile.

 

“And how long did that last? 2 weeks?” she says, taking out some sunscreen and applying it to her shoulders.

 

“It was 2 and a half, actually. I went to the summer camp, too, so that counts.” He pointed out, and she shakes her head with a smile.

 

“You’re impossible, Steve.” She laughs. Steve looks up when a figure comes over to them, standing hesitantly. Carrie smiles at Eleven,

 

“Hey, El, right? You wanna sit?” she says, and Eleven nods. Carrie shifts to the side a little as Eleven sits beside her, but careful to sit on the end of the long lawn chair.

 

“Are you wearing sunscreen? Your face looks a little red.” Carrie notes, and Eleven’s hands reach to her face, patting it uneasily. Her eyebrows furrow, and she shakes her head. Carrie nods, handing her the tube of sunscreen she had been using.

 

“Just put some across your face, like this.” She instructs, taking the extra she had left on her shoulders and smearing it across her face. Eleven looks down at the tube, and then squeezes it, a lot coming out.

 

“You don’t need much. Only a little. Here, I’ll take some.” Carrie says, scooping some off her hand and rubbing it into her arms. She gestured to Eleven,

 

“Just on your face. Maybe your shoulders, too, but they don’t look too bad. Sunburns hurt, trust me.” She says, nodding. Eleven carefully moves it over her face, rubbing it in. She also rubbed her arms for good measure, before looking to Carrie.

 

“What is sunburn?” she questions. Carrie looks to her, beginning to smile but saw the seriousness on the girl’s face. Glancing at Steve, who shrugging slightly, she looks back to her.

 

“It’s, um, when you’re out in the sun too much. Your skin gets all hot, red, and itchy. Sometimes blisters can come up, but that’s only when it gets really bad.” She says, and she watched Eleven’s eyes widen. Did this girl really not know what a sunburn was?

 

“But, sunscreen helps protect your skin from all of that. Sunscreen is my best friend during the summer.” She says, and Eleven nods, taking in the information. Mike walks up, dark hair still dripping wet from the pool.

 

“El, you okay?” he questions, eyes shifting to Carrie. Eleven nods, looking to Carrie,

 

“She was telling me about sunscreen, and sunburns. Do you get sunburns, Mike?” Eleven questions, and he shrugs.

 

“Yeah, sometimes. They hurt, but not a lot.”

 

“I don’t want a sunburn.” Eleven says, her face scrunching up. Carrie hands over her tube of sunscreen to her, and smiles.

 

“Well, you won’t. Take mine, I can get plenty at the store.” She says, and Eleven takes it. She looked so… moved. Looking to Carrie, she smiles. Almost enough to show teeth, and that was saying something for the quiet girl.

 

“Thank you.” She says, and Mike raised his eyebrows, gesturing her to follow him.

 

“Come on, let’s get a soda.” He says, and Eleven stands. She walks away with him, hands clutching the tube of sunscreen close to her chest.

 

Carrie lays back in the chair, and decided not to question it. Some kids weren’t as worldly as others, right? Maybe she was adopted from an abusive family, or something. It looked like the most likely situation, since the Police Chief was the one to bring her here.

 

Steve looked to Carrie, waiting for her to comment, or ask. He had some sort of answer prepared, but she only stretched her legs out.

 

“Steve Harrington, diving extraordinaire.” She laughs lightly to herself, a small smile on her lips.

 

~

 

Around 6, Steve called the party to an end. Eleven was the first to go, Mike watching forlornly as the Chief’s van drivers off. It didn’t escape Steve that Nancy and Jonathan collected Mike and Will together. He wasn’t one to get offended by people turning down his plans, but it still stung a bit.

 

Poor Max was stuck with Dustin and Lucas near the end. But, she was talking with them ecstatically on Steve’s porch as they waited. Carrie leaned against one of the pillars as the kids sat on the steps, Steve coming outside in a change of clothes.

 

“I hereby challenge you, Mad Max, to Dig-Dug.” Dustin proclaims, and Max scoffs.

 

“I knocked you off number one for a reason, Dustin.”

 

“Yeah, she’s just that good.” Lucas said, smirking triumphantly. Dustin rolls his eyes,

 

“I just want a fair shot at winning my place back, if you please.”

 

“Fine, you’re on.” Max said, sticking her hand out. Dustin spit into his palm, shaking her hand firmly. Max grimaces, wiping her hand on Lucas’ shirt afterwards. Lucas vocalized his protests, but it didn’t stop her.

 

“I think that was unnecessary.” She says. Dustin shrugs,

 

“A deal’s a deal, Mad Max.” he says. Their three heads turned when the sound of the engine preceded the car itself. Max stands up, grabbing her towel, heading down the walkway. Lucas and Dustin scrambled to their feet, waving goodbye to her as she walked. She threw a smile over her shoulder which they gladly returned. But, it faded when they spotted Billy beyond the open windows.

 

Carrie stood straight, feeling his gaze from behind the dark sunglasses he wore. She turned away, swallowing. Billy turned forward when Max was inside, and sped down the road.

 

“Man, I really don’t like him.” Lucas mumbles.

 

“No shit. He almost beat you up, remember?” Dustin says.

 

“Yeah, but he didn’t. That’s what matters.”

 

“He kicked Steve’s ass instead. Honestly- “

 

“Hey!” Steve interrupted, and their heads swiveled around.

 

“You little shits better shut your mouths.” He says, raising his eyebrows. Carrie looked to him, eyebrows furrowed deeply.

 

“You fought Billy?” she questioned incredulously. He looks to her, his mouth opening and closing, and he shrugs.

 

“I mean… sort of. It was nothing.” He says, and Dustin and Lucas shared a look. Carrie looked between the three of them, and nods.

 

“Okay… Right.” She had a suspicion it was much more than he was letting on. She knew Billy was capable of a lot, especially up against a guy like Steve. Billy was all muscle, and Steve was a little on the gangly side. She would be terrified to know what Billy could do to Steve.

 

In that instance, she saw a silver line of a scar across the top of his nose. Then, a light discoloration over his eyebrow.

 

She glances to the road, and picks up her bag.

 

“I think I’m going to get going. Lucas, you need a ride?” she offers. He shakes his head,

 

“My mom’s coming to get me.” He says, and she nods. She looks to Steve,

 

“Thanks for the invite. I had fun.” She said with a smile. Steve nods, waving her off.

 

“It’s no problem. I’m glad you came, despite… Some of the people.” He says, and Dustin and Lucas almost gave him an identical expression of narrowed eyes. Carrie rolls her eyes, laughing lightly.

 

“They’re a fun bunch. I’ll see you guys around.” She says, waving, and stepped past the boys to head to her car. Steve waves, watching her go with a soft expression. Dustin still looks to him with narrowed eyes, and Lucas smirks.

 

“Steve’s got a crush, Steve’s got a cruuush!” Lucas sings, and Steve glares at him, then shakes his head.

 

“I’m hanging out with a bunch of children.” He mumbles, rubbing his eyes.

 

~

 

“Why was she there?” Billy had asked Max once they had turned off the street.

 

“Why was who there?” Max says, staring out the window. Billy’s hand gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white.

 

“You know who I mean.” He says, taking a swift drag of his cigarette. “Carrie Summerman.” Her name sounds sweet on his lips, even if his teeth were grit together.

 

“I dunno. She’s a friend of Steve’s apparently.” She says passively, and Billy glanced over to her.

 

“Did you- Did you talk to her?”

 

“No. Why would I?” she said. Billy thought she sounded snippy, but she just sounded sincere. Good thing she knew enough to stay away from Carrie. But he wasn’t finished.

 

“What does she want with Steve?” he questioned, and Max huffs audibly.

 

“I don’t _know,_ okay? Swear to god!” she said, crossing her arms tight over her chest. Billy presses down on the gas just a bit more, easily going 10 over by now.

 

The dumb, stubborn bitch.

 

Absolutely useless.

 

He _had_ to know.

 

~

 

The next time he sees her, it’s a day or so later. He’s pissed drunk, having smothered his anger and emotions in drink and a girl. All he remembers is she was a blonde, and she tasted like stale beer.

 

He’s driving home when he spots her. She’s walking alone.

 

Stupid, he thinks. You shouldn’t be alone, not at night.

 

He rolls down the window, the cool air hitting his forehead, wrapping around the back of his neck. He calls to her, but she doesn’t seem to notice him.

 

This infuriates him.

 

Throwing his car to the curb, she jumps, taking a few steps back. When he climbs out of the car, he sees her wrestling headphones from her head.

 

“Carrie.” He says, and her eyes narrow, then widen with shock or horror. He’s not sure and he doesn’t care which.

 

“Billy. What the fuck are you doing?” she gaped. He steps onto the sidewalk, but it turns into a stumble.

 

“What were… what were you doing at Steve Harrington’s house?” It’s the first coherent thing that comes to mind. Her eyes darken, hands tightening around her headphones.

 

“Go home, Billy.” She says, beginning to walk but he sticks his arm out. She steps back swiftly to avoid his touch, bouncing back on the soles of her heels.

 

“Come on, I wanna talk.” He chides, and she grimaces.

 

“You’re drunk.”

 

“What do you even- What is it about him? Fucking- _Steve Harrington._ Christ.” He says, shaking his head, and laughs. It’s loud, and piercing, and Carrie winces.

 

“You need to go home Billy. You’re not making any sense.” She says. He shakes his head, jabbing a finger at her.

 

“ _You’re_ the one not making sense. You think you can just drop me and move on to the next guy? You think you can walk away from _me?”_ he says, taking a few steps forward. A car passes them, illuminating her in front of him for just a moment, but he sees her. Long hair over her shoulder, eyes wide and wary. His vision blurs, but he wants to fall into her.

 

She doesn’t speak, watching him carefully. She sees the way he sways and how his eyes go in and out of focus. He reaches forward, and she feels her throat tighten as he picks up a piece of her hair. He twists it in his fingers lightly, her eyes shifting back to him.

 

“Come with me.” He murmurs, and she almost didn’t hear him. His fingers move through more of her hair, brushing over her breast. She pulls away at this, and he’s grasping weakly for her.

 

“Go home, Billy.” She says again, and he takes three big steps and he’s nearly pressed against her. His hand move around the curve of the back of her neck, moving through her hair. He misses the feeling of it, how he used to hold it. Carrie turns her head away, jaw locked. She can smell the alcohol, sweat, and other questionable things on him.

 

“Come back, Carrie.”

 

She slowly looks to him. She can only see the side profile of his face due to someone’s garage light. She feels her chin tremble, and she raises her hand. Undoing Billy’s hand from her hair, she pushes herself away from him. It’s only when there’s distance between them does she breathe. He remains where he stood, lifting his head to look at her. She violently jerks her head away from him to avoid his gaze. She all but runs past him down the sidewalk, shoving back on her headphones.

 

He’s left standing, head spinning, heart pounding.

 

He can’t bring himself to follow her.

 

~

 

Carrie stormed into her room, throwing her bag and her Walkman onto her bed. She rubs her eyes to only find wet tears. She feels herself grow angrier, more upset. Her jaw is trembling, her chest feels like it weighs 16 tons, and she’s just _so-_

She rips off the t-shirt she was wearing, feeling like she was suffocating. Walking into the bathroom, she locks the door. She sits down on the toilet, putting her head in her hands. She feels her hair stick to her face because of the tears, and she shoves it out of the way. But it just keeps falling, and falling, and falling

 

She stands, looking to herself in the mirror. Her eyes are red, cheeks tear-stained. Her hair, so long and beautiful. Her hair that her mother would meticulously brush every morning. Her hair that Billy would hold onto when she rode him fast, and hard. Her hair, that once was absolutely everything to her, was now just in the _way._

 

Ripping open a drawer, she found a pair of scissors. She took long pieces of her hair, and began snipping. Soon the snips turned into chops, and silky pieces of bronze fell into her sink.

 

_“What happened, that day?”_

_“You set an example for this family, Carrie.”_

_“You’re mine, and you know it.”_

It’s when her breathing evens out does she look at the mess she’s made. Hair litters the sink and the counter, her arms covered in small pieces. She finally puts down the scissors. The sound of metal on the ceramic sink is quiet, yet prominent.

 

Her eyes slowly rise, and she meets the face that stares back in the mirror. Running her hand through her hair, it falls just above her shoulders. A small triumphant smile reaches her lips.

 

Flushing the hair down the drain, and letting the shower rinse the rest of the hairs off, she scrubs her body until it’s red and raw.

 

_“Doesn’t she know there are easier ways to kill yourself?”_

_“Happy New Year, Carrie.”_

 

_“I’ve got nothing but time.”_

She meticulously dries herself off, pulling on fresh clothes. Laying back in bed, and staring at the darkness of her ceiling, she stares for a few moments. The words swirl, intensifying into a roar that feels like a giant wave. She knows she might drown as she sees it rising, and rising, and _rising_

 

Before it all just stops.

 

She blinks, tears she didn’t know she was still possessing escaping the corners of her eyes. The ambiance of the night fades into her recognition. She hears the trees out her window, rustling quietly. An owl hoots somberly in the distance, and she feels all of Hawkins just… settle.

 

She turns onto her side, curling herself up and lets her eyes slowly close.

 

The night, her familiar and true friend, wraps her up and wills her to a dreamless but peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if that was an incredibly OC-centric ending. I was having a lot of emotions and I was rolling with it. Poor girl lol
> 
> I really enjoyed writing Eleven. I think she's still struggling to become worldly, and definitely still learning about basic things, especially in the summertime. I also think she possesses an innocence that contrasts well with the OC. Idk, maybe that's just me and my crazy literature mind.
> 
> Also, the hair-cutting is totally symbolic. Definitely channeled some of my own emotions/experiences into that and might have gotten a little carried away... But hey, it's a new start, something I think she's still struggling with. So, she pulled a Mulan and now she's ready for battle! (jk... sort of)
> 
> Thoughts?
> 
> -K


	3. she's so high above me, she's so lovely

~

 

Steve pulls up to the Arcade, parking in one of the front parking spaces. He turns to Dustin, who was about to climb out.

 

“Can you just- Can you remind me why I’m driving you, and you’re not biking here?” he questions, wanting to be clear. Dustin gestures to his foot,

 

“Twisted my ankle, Mom wants me taking precautions to make it better. Remember?” he says, and Steve nods.

  
“Yeah. Right, it’s just- How long?”

 

“What? I kind of like you as my chauffer.” Dustin grins toothily, climbing out, and Steve sighs, shaking his head.

 

“Do they at least have candy in there?” he calls, leaning to the side.

 

“As a matter of fact, they do.”

 

~

 

“Steve.” Keith more or less greets as Steve approaches the counter. He nods,

 

“Hey, Keith.” He didn’t really know him well, had seen him around school a few times. He had exchanged even fewer words with him, but he felt a slight tension between him as he assessed the candy before him.

 

“How’s Nancy?” Keith questions, and Steve looked at him with an odd expression, eyebrows knit together.

 

“Uh, fine?” Keith only nods, swaying back and forth on his feet.

 

“Good to know.” He replies simply, and Steve looks down at the candy selection, making a quick choice.

 

“Just a Bonkers for me.” He says, and Keith nods, taking his time getting it out of the glass enclosure. Steve already had his change laid out when he got it out, anxious to get out of his presence.

 

“Keith, if you act any creepier, you’re going to drive the kids away.” A voice says, and Steve looked over his shoulder to see Carrie settle against the counter. He almost didn’t recognize her, her long hair turned short, almost wavy above her shoulders. She was holding a red lollipop, her lips stained red.

 

Keith gave her a look, dropping the candy bar.

 

“Well, you’re already here.” He says, and Carrie rolls her eyes, looking to Steve with a smile as he scooped up his candy bar.

 

“Hey.” She greets.

 

“Hi.” He says, regarding Keith for a moment then mumbling a thanks, and turning away. Keith threw out quickly,

 

“Say hi to Nancy for me.” Carrie pushed off the counter, shaking her head to him and fell into step beside Steve.

 

“And _what_ are you doing here, Mr. Harrington? Come to try your hand at _Joust?”_ she said, and he pauses once he had escaped the gaze of Keith.

 

“I could ask you the same question. And no, I was playing chauffer for Dustin. Again.” He says, and she nods.

 

“Ah. I took Erica and Allison to play here for a while. Or, Allison, anyway. Erica thinks the games are stupid, but I know she likes to watch.” She said with a grin. She nods him over to a row of games, settling in front of _Q*bert._

 

“You play?” he questions as she stuck in a few coins, putting the lollipop in her mouth. Shrugging, she took hold of the controls.

 

“Occasionally. It’s hot outside, and I have some extra money. These games are rigged, though.” She says, beginning to play. Steve glances around, hearing the rising voices of Dustin and Mike, knowing they must be playing something a few rows over. He leans against the side of the machine, opening his candy bar.

 

“And they fry your brain.” He adds, taking a bite. She shrugs,

 

“Can’t argue with that. But, they sure are fun while they do.” She says, and grins. He hears the happy little tune and glanced over, seeing the screen flash before moving onto the next level.

 

“I haven’t played in a long time.” He admits, and she nods.

 

“Why? Too cool?” she muses, and he sighs.

 

“Yeah, I guess. Plus, you know, school and everything.” He says, hearing her curse and hit the machine when the music warbles down with a **Game Over** sign across the screen. She turns to him,

 

“Well, it has never been above me to indulge in a little mind-rotting fun. What did you like to play?” she says, taking out the lollipop. He glances around, and came up with nothing.

 

“Pinball?” he offers, and her face falls.

 

“Oh, Steve. You poor, uncultured youth. Come on.” She says, gesturing him to follow her. It didn’t pass him how some of the kids said hi to her as they passed. Looks like she frequented more than he thought.

 

“Here. Let’s start you here.” She says, patting the _Pac-Man_ consol. He raises his eyebrows,

 

“You can’t be serious.” He says, and she raises her eyebrows.

 

“Do I look like I’m joking, Steven?” she says, and he sighs, knowing he was giving in too easily. Putting his candy bar to the side, he began digging for some change, but Carrie slipped some coins inside. The game bubbled to life, a countdown flashing, and then he began moving.

 

“I used to come here with my dad a lot. I do have a life you know, it’s just… Nostalgic.” She says, leaning against it and watching him play. He was easily eaten by one of the ghosts, and the game sends the spinny music, asking him to play again. Taking his second chance, he tries again.

 

“Dad actually liked pinball, too. He was a pro at it, though I’ll never understand how.” She laughs, shaking her head. He was doing pretty well, having worked all around the bottom part of the maze before moving up.

 

“What happened to your dad?” he asked offhandedly, feeling his feet dig into the ground as he really put work into it. He didn’t notice her silence because of this, but she sighs.

 

“He was one of those hunters that went missing a few years back. Never found a body, though.” She says, and he looks to her just as the ghost met up with him, killing him. The sound of the game was drowned out by the magnitude of her words.

 

“Wh- Oh, shit. Carrie. I’m sorry-“

 

“Hey, listen, it happened a while ago. Besides, it’s nothing to be sorry about. It was just… It happened, right?” she said, her smile feeble. Looking to the screen, she gestures to it.

 

“And you lost, again. Come on, I wanna see you try Dig-Dug. We’ll find you something to play, I swear.” She says, sticking the lollipop between her lips, heading off. He quickly follows her, but felt a hollow guilt within him. That year, with Nancy and the constant thoughts and guilt of Barb all came back to him. It dawned on him that other people must have had their own battles like that; the only difference is that Barb’s family actually got closure.

 

He would have never imagined that one of those other families could have been Carrie’s.

 

He caught up with her at the Dig-Dug machine, seeing her put in some coins. He approaches the front, looking to her.

 

“Carrie, I really am sorry.” She looked to him, meeting his eyes. Retrieving the lollipop, she licks her lips with a shrug.

 

“It happens. You better get a move on.” She says, gesturing to the screen. He began playing quickly, trying to figure out how to maneuver this game. The silence between them wasn’t awkward or heavy, but he felt he needed to offer something other than his condolences after hearing that. He had no idea she was living with that for as long as she was, but it makes sense. That’s why she became so reclusive, why she steered away from people at school. The only thing that doesn’t make sense, that he had _still_ been asking himself was why she went to Billy of all people.

 

He supposed people had their different ways of coping.

 

 _Very_ different ways of coping.

 

When he failed the first level, he agreed to play again. He was better at it this time and leveled up. Glancing at Carrie, he sees her smile.

 

“See? That was pretty good!” she says, and he shrugs, shifting his gaze back to the screen with a smile.

 

“Hey, um… I’m supposed to go hang out with Nancy and Jonathan tomorrow night. The kids are having some kind of “campaign” or whatever and they were going to watch some movies or something.” He says, and Carrie watches him carefully. She bites her lip, shifting on her feet.

 

“And… well, if you’re not doing anything, you should come.” He says, and she nods.

 

“Won’t that be… Uh, a little weird? I mean, she is your ex. And he’s dating her-“

 

“Nah.” He says, standing straight when he leveled up again. “It’s fine. Why does everyone keep on saying that?” he huffs, shifting on his feet as he began the third level. Carrie nods in understanding, not wanting to press anymore. She watches the screen light up as he plays, impressed with his quickly developing skills.

 

“I guess I’ll stop by.” She says, and his hand slips, and he glances at her quick. But it’s just quick enough to make him lose. He isn’t even upset, and turns to her.

 

“Really?” he says, hoping he didn’t sound as surprised as he thought he did. She smiles lightly, nodding.

 

“Yeah. I don’t exactly have people beating down my door to hang out with me, so…” she shrugs, and he grins.

 

“Alright, um, cool. It’ll probably be around 1 or 2, starting then. You don’t have to stay the whole time, the kids play until after dark, from what I hear…” he says, and she nods.

 

“I’ll be there.” She said, smiling.

 

“Be where?” a voice questions, and they look back to see Allison and Erica standing. Erica, with her arms crossed, and looking incredibly unimpressed, spoke,

 

“Allison used all of her change on Donkey Kong. _Again._ ” Erica said, and Allison gives her a hard look.

 

“I wanted to pass that level! I swore I would this time!” she says defiantly. Erica rolls her eyes,

 

“Yeah, but you _didn’t.”_ she said, and Allison shakes her head.

 

“Alright, so I guess that means it’s time to go-“ chides Carrie, but Allison came to her side, clasping her hands together.

 

“Please, please can I have more money, Carrie? I was really close, honest!”

 

“You didn’t last more than 15 seconds on that level.” Erica says, and Carrie sighs, looking to Steve.

 

“I’ll see you, alright?” she said with a smile. He nods,

 

“Yeah, yeah of course. See you then.” He says with a smile, and Carrie ushers the two girls forward, and Steve could hear them continue to argue and beg as they walked away. He hesitates, but then stepped forward.

 

“Hey, Carrie!” he calls, and she turned her head back, the girls still talking indistinctly. He couldn’t keep the sincerity from his voice when he spoke.

 

“I like your hair.”

 

There’s something about her smile that makes him feel something like victory.

 

~

 

“Wait, you invited who?” Jonathan says, standing in the midst of the Wheeler household’s kitchen. Nancy sighs,

 

“I know you were just trying to be nice, but is this _really_ a good idea? I mean, we hardly know her. And didn’t she-“

 

“Listen, she’s nice and fun to hang out with. Besides, she doesn’t have many friends to my knowledge and could use a good night of just being with some cool people.” Steve explains.

 

“Yeah, but _who_ is she?” Jonathan questions again, making Steve and Nancy look to him simultaneously.

 

“She dated Billy Hargrove.” Nancy says bluntly, and Steve threw a hand up.

 

“Don’t say it like _that-“_

“The Billy Hargrove that kicked Steve’s ass?” Jonathan questions, and Steve was agape at the innocence of his tone.

 

“That’s the one.” Nancy sighs exasperatingly, “And now he invited her to be with us, when we haven’t even met her.” She says, growing more and more distressed as the conversation went on. Jonathan shrugs,

 

“I dunno, maybe we could give her a chance.” And Steve threw his hand out to Jonathan, looking to Nancy.

 

“See? I think you’re judging her a little too soon.” He says, and Nancy looks between them before sighing, her shoulders dropping in defeat.

 

“Alright, alright. But if I have to, I _will_ call the cops.” She said, and Mrs. Wheeler, Karen, comes in with Holly in her hip.

 

“Why are we calling the cops?” she says, setting Holly down as she opens up the oven, taking out a tray of fresh cookies.

 

“Nothing. Just joking.” Nancy quickly recovers, and Karen sets the tray to the side,

 

“Let them cool, and you guys can have at them. Do you need anything else? You know where the Cokes are and everything, right boys?” she questions, and they nod. There’s a quick ring of the doorbell, and Karen quickly takes off her oven mitt.

 

“That must be Max.” she says, though sounding a little too excited as she walked with a little more pep in her step to the door. With the sweet _“hello”_ and the baritone reply of _“Mrs. Wheeler”_ made all three present make a face.

 

Seeing the red blur that was Max head through the kitchen and to the basement door, they had to listen to the light conversation Karen was attempting to make with Billy, and they could hear her flirty laugh making Nancy want to hurl.

 

“Just never invite _him,_ and we should be fine.” Jonathan says, and Steve shakes his head.

 

“I’d rather die first.”

 

The door finally closes and Karen passes through, looking obviously flushed and flipping her hair back giddily. All three looked at her in obvious discomfort as she gathered up Holly,

 

“You guys have fun. Try and keep it down, alright?” she questions, and waves them goodbye. Nancy shakes her head, watching her go.

 

“I don’t know what it is about-“

 

A knock made all of them turn their heads, and Nancy huffs.

 

“What, did he forget to kiss her goodnight or something?” she grumbles, walking to the door and opening it. Carrie smiles,

 

“Hey. Nancy, right?” she says, and Nancy immedietly countered her sour face with a smile.

 

“Yeah! You must be Carrie.” She replies, and she nods as Nancy stepped out of the way.

 

“I hope I’m not intruding. But Steve just seemed really nice about it, and-“

 

“No, no it’s no problem!” Nancy says, waving her hand dismissively as the door closes. They came back to the kitchen, and Steve smiles.

 

“Hey, you made it.” He says, and Carrie nods, shifting a sweater in her arms. She turns to Jonathan, smiling lightly.

 

“Jonathan Byers, right?” she questions, and extends her hand. He seemed a bit frightened at the confrontation but mustered a nod and shook her hand lightly.

 

“Carrie.” She said, and he nods. He let go of her hand a bit too fast, and it felt awkward. Carrie nods,

 

“So. Movies?” Nancy interjects.

 

They moved to the living room, Steve settling on the couch and Carrie beside him. Jonathan stood by the TV, holding a few tapes.

 

“I have _Poltergeist, WarGames,_ and _Airplane!_ Any idea of what should go first?” he offers, and Nancy laughs.

 

 _“Airplane!_ ? Really, Jonathan?” He shrugged, glancing down at them.

 

“Thought we could have some diversity in our movie-going experience.” He says, and Carrie nods.

 

“I understand. I never saw _Poltergeist,_ though. Is it as scary as people said?”

 

“Not really. I thought it wasn’t that bad.”

 

“Says the guy who watches _Evil Dead._ For us normal people it’s a little freaky.” Nancy says, and Jonathan busied himself with setting up the TV, putting in the tape for _Poltergeist._

 

“The clown scene is really weird.” Steve leans over and whispers, and Carrie looks at him, face going pale.

 

“There’s a clown scene?” Steve raised an eyebrow, looking to her startled expression.

 

“I mean, it’s a doll, but y-“

 

“ _Shit._ A _clown doll?_ Do you guys want to die or something?” she whispers, and Steve rolls his eyes.

 

“You have permission to hide yourself if you get too scared.” He says, and she sighs, crossing her arms and curling her legs underneath her.

 

“Good, because I hate horror movies.”

 

Steve almost laughed out loud.

 

~

 

They watched all of Poltergeist in relative silence, with the sporadic comment or two here and there. Steve tried stirring up conversation once or twice, but no one seemed to be interested. He thought things had been incredibly awkward, and followed Carrie to the kitchen as Jonathan was putting in _WarGames._

“I’m sorry, it’s typically a lot more fun than this.” He confesses, and she shrugs,

 

“I think it’s fine. I’m just happy to be here, you know.” She says, and he nods.

 

“It’s just… Nancy’s nice, I promise. She’s just got to open up sometimes-“

 

“Steve, it’s okay. I’m not worried about it.” She says with a smile. He sighs, nodding, running a hand through his hair.

 

“I just wanted this to be good for you. You know, get you out, and interacting, after everything…”

 

“Steve, I don’t think I need pity by now. But, I do appreciate what you’re trying to do. And it _has_ been fun, honest. I would never have watched _Poltergeist_ without you guys, or you to shield me during the right moments.” She laughs, referring to the few times she hid her face from behind his shoulder, especially during the clown sequence. Steve felt quite proud, but attempted to conceal some of it.

 

“Well, happy to help.” He says with a smile. They both turned their heads when the sound of feet came into the kitchen, both Mike and Will had emerged from the hall.

 

They gave the two hardly any regard as they gathered up food and a few cans of soda, immersed in the conversation of whatever campaign they were playing. Carrie and Steve stepped out of the way, not wanting to ruin the flow.

 

“Thanks guys!” Will throws over his shoulder, and Carrie shakes her head, smiling lightly.

 

“Are they always like that?” Steve sighs, nodding.

 

“Unfortunately.” He heard Jonathan call for them, and he begins walking back. Carrie is quick to grab his wrist, and he turns abruptly.

 

“Steve, I-“ she said, glancing to the side.

 

“I really mean it. Thank you.” He searches between her soft, golden eyes and he smiles.

 

“Anything to get you to come around, right?” he chuckles, and she smiles softly as they headed back to the living room.

 

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slow burn. Sloooow buuuurn. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I have a few more chapters already done and queued up, but... It's getting to the tough stuff and I hope I can write it as well as I'm imagining it! Lets hope for the best, shall we?
> 
> -K


	4. you've been acting awful tough lately, smoking a lot of cigarettes lately

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's see how Hawkin's favorite bad boy is doing, shall we?

 

~

 

“Steve?” a voice says, garbled sounds in the background. He can hear the unmistakable sound of a guitar in the background.

 

“Carrie?” he replies, his voice tinged with surprise. There’s a sigh of relief,

 

“Can you… Can you come get me? I don’t feel… I need a ride.” she says, some words slurring together. He sighs, rubbing his face.

 

“Yeah, yeah I can. Where are you?” he questions, leaning over and grabbing his keys from the dish by the receiver.

 

“Um… TJ Flannigan’s house.” He shook his head slightly, but nods.

 

“Yeah. I’ll be there in five. Just sit outside, okay?”

 

“Sure thing.” she says, setting the receiver down, the sound of the party catching up to her. She winces as two girls clamber for the phone, and she slides it to them, one of the girl in hysterics.

 

“He… he _cannot_ do this to me! I will-” there’s a sniff, “I will _tell_ him, a piece of my mind!’

 

Carrie’s head spins as she attempts to stand straight. Whatever was in the beer tonight was horrid and was making her feel worse and worse than usual.

 

She turns to the door, or at least the direction of it. She takes a few steps before the visions of people before her begin to blur. She takes a step back, and then another, and she feels herself falling-

 

“Whoa, easy there.” Arms are grabbing her own, steadying her. This gives her enough time to catch her footing. She makes another go at walking but then she feels sick. Falling back again, she hits a body that’s nearly rock solid.

 

“Jesus, Carrie, are you alright?”

 

The familiarity of both the body and voice make her whirl around. Her eyes narrow and she rips her arm away from Billy.

 

“Sss… screw you, Billy.” she says, waving her arm and fell into the wall beside her. He grabbed her outstretched arm,

 

“Carrie, you’re drunk as hell. I mean, _look at yourself-_ ”

 

“Fuck, I know this. Now, I need to get my- my chariot awaits me.” She says, giving one more push away from him but then her stomach feels like it’s traveling at full speed to her mouth, and she shoves him to the side before flying to the sink, upchucking the chips and beer she had.

 

She feels her hair slide out of her face, cool fingers against her neck. Her knees begin to shake, and soon they buckle.

 

The next thing she notes is a white ceiling. It smells funny and feels soft. It dawns on her she’s in a bedroom, laying on the bed.

 

“Chill, Billy, it was just a little-”  


“Bullshit! You shouldn’t have fucking messed with that-”

 

She hears a shove, and the sound of objects clattering. She raises her head, seeing the back of a curly blond head in a leather jacket, and another in front of him, pressed against the dresser.

 

“Billy?” she says incredulously. He turns his head, and his eyes meet hers. She begins to sit up, and he quickly crosses the room to her.

 

“No, no, lay back.” he says, pressing on her shoulder lightly. It didn’t take much to keep her back down, and her head lolls to the side on the comforter. He looks up at Tommy H, venom in his eyes.

 

“Get the fuck out before I bash your head in.” he snaps. Tommy H makes a face, but quickly sidles out. His jaw tenses, and he looks back down at Carrie, sitting on the bed beside her. Her skin is pale and sallow from vomiting, and it reminds him of February, before things fell apart. His hand hovers over a piece of her hair, now cut short. He bets it’s still just as soft.

 

Steve pulls up, stopping at the curb and squinting his eyes to see through the people coming in and out of the house. He doesn’t spot Carrie, and he can only bet that she’s still inside. He parks the car, climbing out and into the hum of the party.

 

Recognizing some people from school, he asks around. Not many people know or seem to care. It’s only when he gets a couple who were passing a blunt between one another did they say she was in a bedroom with Billy Hargrove, last they checked. His heart jumps into his throat, and he locates the bedroom, throwing the door open.

 

Billy looks up from over Carrie, and he stands quickly.

 

“I don’t think this concerns you, Harrington.” he says, and Carrie turns her head, wincing. Steve looks to Billy, then to Carrie.

  
“Yeah, I say bullshit.” he says, taking a few steps near before Billy is fully in front of him, nearly nose to nose. Steve can smell the scent of beer and cigarettes on him, and he grits his teeth.

 

“You need to get out.” Billy says, his voice low.

 

“Or what?” Steve replies, jutting his chin out. He didn’t know why he felt particularly brave up against him like this, considering the last time they faced off, Billy nearly beat his face in. Maybe it was the fact Steve had no idea what Billy would do to Carrie, given their history. Maybe Steve cared about Carrie, and there was no way in hell he was leaving her.

 

“Steve…” Carrie murmurs, causing both boys to turn abruptly. She raises a hand to her head, the other feeling for the edge of the bed.

 

“I feel like I might…” she says, and she begins to lean over the side of the bed and Billy swiftly pushes a trashcan under her as she throws up again. Steve curses under his breath, wondering what the hell he did to her. He notices, however, Billy holding her hair back as she heaves.

 

He almost looks sorry.

 

“I’m taking her home.” Steve says, stepping closer. Billy’s eyes shoot up to his own, and only when Carrie reaches out in Steve’s direction does he move to her. Steve lets her take his arm, pulling herself up. He helps pull her legs over the side of the bed, and Billy quickly stands, making distance between them.

 

“Come on, it’s okay. I got you.” Steve murmurs, and she nods as he pulled her to her feet. She leans almost all her weight onto him, and he pulls her arm over his shoulders. He looks to Billy, who is just looking at him venomously, with maybe… jealousy?

 

He looks away, and he starts to lead her out.

 

Billy thinks to stop him. Tell him that it wasn’t him that did this. He would never, in a _million years-_

But he knows Steve would never believe him.

 

Steve finds it easy to get Carrie into her house without much noise. She’s surprisingly quiet, mumbling some instructions like the key under the mat, how the door squeaks when you open it too quickly.

 

He gets her upstairs, taking off her shoes. He finds a trashcan and puts it by her bed. He didn’t know what she drank, but it was either too much or really bad. She leans on her side as he pulls the covers over her. He wonders what might have happened if he were a few minutes late or hadn’t gone to get her. He doesn’t want to think about it and runs a hand through his hair.

 

He does all he can to help, leaving her bedside lamp on. He sighs, glancing at the clock, reading 12:04.

 

“Thanks… Billy…” she murmurs, and he freezes.

 

Looking to her, her face finally falls at peace as she goes to sleep. Billy suddenly makes sense: the protectiveness, the hair holding, the way he looked like he was going to deck Steve for handling her.

 

It makes him wonder if she’s still in love with Billy as much as Billy is still in love with her.

 

~

 

When Billy watches Steve’s car pull away from the curb, he storms back inside.

 

His throat feels dry and scratchy from chain-smoking, and he lets this discomfort propel him forward. He seeks out Tommy H, seeing red. He finds him pressed against some redhead, talking to Fred.

 

“What in the _shit_ were you thinking?” Billy spits, and Tommy looks to him, alarmed.

“Wh- Is this still about-“

 

“ _Don’t!”_ Billy shouts, his feet bringing him almost nose-to-nose with Tommy.

 

“Don’t say her fucking name.” he hisses, and Tommy H looks at him, several expressions flashing across his face. The redhead he was hanging onto ducks out of his grasp, and Roy takes a step forward.

 

“Hey, Billy, we didn’t mean anything by it. We just figured you’d want some revenge, you know-“

 

“So, you thought drugging her would do the trick? Then what were you planning on doing, huh? Please, enlighten me.” He snarls. His hands were curling into fists, and he could hear his heartbeat in his ears. Who were they to think they could do this? And to _her?_

 

“Well, we’d just let you have her. Unless you wanted to share.” Tommy H says so offhandedly than it makes Billy see black, and he takes his shirt in both of his fists, slamming him against the wall.

 

“Hey, calm down, man! Jeez!” Roy cries, the drink in his hand sloshing.

 

“You will never, _ever_ lay a fucking finger on her. You don’t look at her, you don’t touch her, don’t- don’t you even _think_ about her. Do you understand?” Billy hisses, and Tommy H flinches when his spit hits his face. Billy shoves him against the wall again.

 

“ _Do you understand?!”_ he shouts, loud enough for conversation around them to die down. Tommy H gulps, and winces.

 

“Yes- Yeah! God, I get it!” he cries, and Billy holds him for a moment, then nods. He slowly sets him back down, Tommy’s shirt wrinkled all to hell. Billy rubs his face, wiping his mouth of the spit that had escaped.

 

When he turns, almost all attention had been on them. Billy dropped his shoulders, taking out his cigarette pack and stuck one between his lips.

 

“Have fun with your damn party.” He says and pushes past Roy to the entrance. Roy stumbles back, running a hand through his hair.

 

“Jesus _Christ.”_ He murmurs. Tommy H can only lean back against the wall, his eyes dark with malice.

 

Billy fucking Hargrove, everyone.

 

Something had to be done about him.

 

~

 

Billy pushes off the car he had been working on, wiping his hands of the grease. It only moved the blackness around his hands more, covering them with slick black-and-brown goo. He uses the back of his hand to wipe his forehead as he walks into the office area, turning on the sink.

 

Nothing was quite the same for him after.

After that.

 

After _her,_ he forces himself to admit. She was the cause of this, if anything.

 

If he had ever thought it was easy to forget a girl, he was terribly misunderstood.

 

Sure, it was easy to forget a girl you had a one-night stand with, or even “dated” for a month or two. But, Carrie Summerman had taken 4 months of his life that felt like a lifetime.

 

And every moment was perfect.

 

He scoffs at the word perfect. Nothing is ever perfect, and he knows this. No matter what his father had tried to drill into his brain, perfection is not everything, and it certainly isn’t always attainable. His grades had never been perfect, his mother had never been perfect, Neil’s tolerance had never been perfect. Perfect may exist in the Hargrove vocabulary, but it rarely means what it is truly defined as.

 

That’s why he saves it just for her.

 

Perfect were those moments, however brief, that he had with her. Up until that day he went to see her after so long. Too long to fix anything, he realizes now.

 

Replacing her hadn’t been easy. When he realized what she meant was true, that she would never speak to him, he spiraled a bit. He took anything that came his way, drank at every party until he blacked out. This was no foreign coping mechanism, not to a Hargrove.

 

In time, it got boring. The girls kept coming around, but he never wanted more. He never wanted anything like he wanted _her_ and _only her._

 

Hearing his father’s words in his mind to get up and do something instead of sitting on his ass, he acquired a job. After years of tending to his Pinto, he figured he was car savvy enough to work at the local auto shop. And, for the past 3 months now, he had been fixing cars that seemed as ancient as the pyramids. But, he found he was good at it. He had always been good with his hands, figuring out where things went inside of where.

 

After that party, after knowing of Tommy H’s intentions and actions, Billy had seen things in a different light. If he was going to right any wrongs, he wasn’t going to do it the old-fashioned way. She was too strong to manipulate, or to sweet talk. Intimidation would go nowhere, since she knew all his tricks. If anything, she would laugh at his attempts, and most likely slap him.

 

He had to rethink his methods.

 

Thinking back to Steve, no matter how much he hated him, he had paid attention.

 

Steve was everything Billy wasn’t: a pretty boy, meant for success, and _nice._ Not just good, but nice. Carrie must have called him, and he came like a knight in shining armor from a fucking story book.

 

He can’t _imagine_ what she sees in him. He’s not her type, and he knows this. He knows her type, and Steve Harrington is far from it.

 

But maybe all she wants is a knight in shining armor. Someone who will be there when she calls, rescue her when she needs it. Someone who is nice, who is chivalrous and pulls a chair out for the lady before she sits.

 

He thinks he can do it.

 

He _believes_ he can do it.

 

He doesn’t know what possesses him to think all of this. Maybe it’s desperation, maybe it’s jealousy. All he knows is he is going to get _his girl back._ His girl.

 

He steps out of the garage, leaning against the doorway and lighting up a cigarette, slipping the lighter in his pocket. He takes a deep inhale, taking the cigarette between his index finger and his thumb. When he exhales, he smiles.

 

And if anything, it’ll be another competition to kick Steve off his pedestal once again. He can prove to Carrie that she doesn’t need Steve, she doesn’t want him. All she needs is right here, with him.

 

Taking another drag, he licks his lower lip.

 

Time to go slay a dragon or two.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun, dun, DUUUH. He's up to no good. Again.
> 
> Q: Team Billy or Team Steve?


	5. now i'm the one left screaming through the night

“Steve!”

 

The voice makes him hesitate, and he turns his head. He sees his mother, which is strange. She’s usually in her craft room, hardly ever out at this hour.

 

“Hey.” He says, his eyes shifting to the bag she was taking out small white boxes from.

 

“That take out?” he questions. She nods, smiling lightly,

 

“Yeah! I figured you, me and dad could have a nice dinner tonight!” she said happily. Margaret Harrington was a great many things, but a cook was not one of them. When he was younger, she attempted many times to create breakfast, lunch and dinner, but all would end too crispy or in smoke.

 

The amount of times that the Harringtons had feasted on pizza or KFC for nights on end was astounding; if anything, Steve was the one to cook home-made meals anymore. So, he was not surprised to see the familiar red insignia of the only Chinese takeout place in Hawkins.

 

(Which wasn’t even run by anyone of Chinese descent. John Kumar hailed from Iowa but made some mean Egg Foo Young. That much was certain.)

 

“Is he even here?” he questioned placidly, standing at the kitchen table that was rarely used. It was odd to see plates and silverware set out, and glasses filled with water.

 

“He will be. He phoned about 10 minutes ago that he would be heading back from the warehouse.” Margaret said, and Steve nods, helping her disperse the boxes.

 

“Is everything okay?” he questioned, and she smiles, nodding.

 

“Of course, why wouldn’t it be?” she replied simply, wrapping up the paper bag and setting it in the cabinet. He couldn’t help but have his suspicions, since the last time they actually sat down and ate like a family was after Richard Harrington’s self-appointed promotion.

 

That was nearly 10 months ago.

 

By the time Steve had washed his hands and took off his shoes, he heard light conversation downstairs. He padded downstairs, and he could see Richard loosening his tie. The soft brown eyes Steve inherited from him lit up at his son’s presence.

 

“Hey there, sport.” He said, and Steve all but shrugged off the old nickname.

 

“Hey. Long time, no see.” He replies, entering the kitchen. He could see Richard’s briefcase discarded on the counter behind him.

 

“Yeah, seems like it, huh?” Richard laughs, and Margaret smiles, sitting down at the table.

 

“Fresh and hot. I got you the Chicken Chow Mein, like how you used to.” She said proudly, and Steve settles in the seat across from her. Richard resumes the head of the table, and Steve feels like he’s 10 years old again. Only his feet touch the ground this time, and he feels that something is in the air.

 

Richard talks of the day, and Steve tunes him out as he makes his plate. Margaret gives all her interest and attention, responding adamantly to him. Steve eats in silence, giving them a casual glance and nod occasionally.

 

“Steve, I asked how you were doing.” His mother chided. He looks up, finally snapping to attention.

 

“Oh, um- Fine. Fine, I guess. I tried my hand at fishing today.” He said, remembering his futile attempts to catch _something_ with Dustin and Lucas. No matter how much he tried what they said, he would only reel in trash or weeds. But, it was still fun. A lot of fun, he could admit.

 

“Oh, nice! Remember that one time we went fishing? That baby was huge!” Richard laughs, and of course Steve remembers. Richard had brought him along to go fishing when he was 12 with some other guys from work. As usual, Richard excelled at everything, and caught the biggest fish of the bunch. Steve was satisfied with the little fish he had caught, but Richard got all the attention.

 

“Yeah, it was fun.” Steve says with a smile, nodding. Margaret mixed up her food,

 

“How’s, uh, Tommy? And Carol, was it?” she questioned, and Steve was taken aback. He hadn’t thought of them in so long, mostly because he hadn’t _been_ with them in so long. That November, which felt like an eternity ago, was the last he ever really knew of them, besides seeing them around school. And of course, Tommy H’s occasional harassment, with the permission of Billy Hargrove.

 

“I, uh… Don’t see them much.” He said. God, had he _really_ not talked to his parents for this long?

 

“Aw, that’s sad. I liked Tommy, he was funny.” Margaret says regrettably. Steve grimaced slightly, knowing Tommy H was far from likable. And “funny” was definitely not the way he would describe him.

 

“Anything interesting happening lately?” Richard questions between bites. _Well, there’s the little demodogs, that girl with psychic powers, Nancy and I broke up a while ago, oh and now I’m Hawkins’ favorite babysitter? Nah, nothing really,_ he thought sourly. He wondered if the other kids’ parents were also so oblivious. Maybe it was better that way.

 

Steve sighs contemplatively and tries to think of something nice. Something… happy.

 

It was easier than he thought.

 

“There’s a girl.” He said, and both Richard and Margaret stilled. They then looked to each other with a knowing smile, and Margaret places her silverware down.

 

“Oh yeah?” she muses, putting her hands together on the table. Steve took a bite, ignoring the fact they were regarding this like a middle-school crush. But he let them, anyway.

 

“Yeah. She’s really cool. I’ve known her for a little while, knew who she was, but… I’ve only just really gotten to know her.” He says, Carrie’s face dashing in his mind for a moment. Her smile, her short hair that suited her incredibly well, the way she ducked behind him during _Poltergiest._ In a world where things weren’t really normal anymore, she was a good breath of fresh air.

 

“That’s awesome, sport! You gonna ask her to… well, go get a milkshake or something?” Richard asks with a light tone. Though the prospect seemed a little outdated to Steve, he didn’t think it was too bad of an idea.

 

“Yeah… Yeah, I think I might.” He chuckles, and Margaret smiles, looking to her husband dotingly. He shared that same smile with her and looked to Steve.

 

“Well… I have some good news on top of that.” He said, and Steve looked to him, the image of Carrie shimmering away. He watched him patiently, knowing nothing could really trump the thought of asking Carrie out on a date.

 

Margaret takes Richard hand, looking to Steve with delight.

 

“I am offering you a job, Steve. A job working for me, at the warehouse.” Richard said proudly, and Steve felt like something hit in him the gut. Suddenly his greatest fears came rolling back to him; working for his dad, living in a constant cycle, making enough money to support him and his family, and being content living a mediocre life.

 

He can see the rest of his life unraveling before him, and it all starts with this.

 

“Well, what do you say, sport?” Richard questions. Suddenly the chicken tastes foul to Steve, and he forces himself to swallow.

 

“Um, I… I don’t know what to say.” He said, feeling like his voice was hollow. Richard laughs,   
  
“Well, surely you’ve seen it coming. You’ve got a lot of potential, and you could carry on the family business.” He said, and Steve nods slowly, setting down his silverware.

 

“And you’d be set for life, honey. You know your father makes plenty good money with the warehouse, and it would be good for you!” Margaret said, reaching across the table in a comforting, encouraging gesture. Steve looks to her and forced himself to nod.

 

“Yeah. I-I know.” He said, but he just saw his life moving so fast before his eyes. He felt like he was getting dizzy, like he would fall headfirst into his Chow Mein.

 

“Can I- Can I think on it?” he finally says, and Richard’s smile dashes away for a moment, but he sticks it back up.

 

“’Course you can, son. Take all the time you need.” He said, though Steve could sense the edge in his voice. Steve felt his knee twitch slightly, and he nods.

 

“Cool. Thanks, I- I appreciate it. Really.” He said, his hand taking the fork and delving back into his food again. By the second bite, it was easier to swallow. Margaret glances to Richard, and slowly picks up her silverware again.

 

And just like that, the house is cloaked in silence again.

 

But Steve has never felt it to be this deafening before.

 

~

 

“No!” Allison cries, taking the doll away.

 

“She can’t have it, she’s lactose intolerant!” Allison says, and Carrie raises her eyebrows.

 

“Just because she’s lactose intolerant doesn’t me she can’t have cake. So long as it doesn’t have milk in it. Where did you learn that, anyway?” Carrie questions, picking up another doll in Allison’s set-up of a kitchen.

 

“Jenny said she’s lactose intolerant, so she couldn’t have the cookies today. She said she can’t have a lot of things anymore, like pizza or ice cream.” Allison said, smoothing down the frizzy hair of the doll and set her down on one of the chairs. Carrie nods,

 

“Well, if you’re lactose intolerant, you can’t have lactate. Or you’re lacking it or something.”

 

“What’s that?” Allison questions, taking the teapot and pouring some imaginary tea into a cup.

 

“Like what’s in milk and cheese. Stuff like that.” She said, taking the cup and sipping it, sighing in content.

 

“So she can have the cookies?” Allison questions, pushing the empty plate to the doll. Carrie shrugs,

 

“As long as you didn’t use milk.”

 

“I didn’t!”

 

“Then she’ll be okay.” Carrie laughs. There’s a knock on the door and she looks up, Marcia sticking her head inside.

 

“Dinner’s ready, girls.” She said with a smile. Allison shoots up, abandoning the tea party indefinitely. With a squeal, dashes out of the room excitedly.

 

Carrie rises with a smile, and walks to the door, but Marcia steps in the way. Carrie raises her eyes to her mother, and her mother looks back to her with that cool but intimidating way.

 

“Where were you the other day?”

 

“What?”

 

“Don’t play with me, Carrie.” She said coldly. Carrie looks to her with a wary expression,

 

“If you really want to know, I went to a pool party.”

 

“Really?” Marcia asks, her tone in obvious disbelief.

 

“Yeah. Steve Harrington’s house.” She said, and her mother’s whole demeanor changed. She relaxed, her face lighting up with interest.

 

“Steve _Harrington?_ Richard and Margaret’s boy?”

 

“Yeah. The one and only.” She said with a gesture of her hand slightly. She just wanted to eat and not commit to interrogation again.

 

“Oh…” her mother says, trying to not look too interested. She then looks back to her, “They had a pretty big pool, huh?” she questions casually. Carrie all but rolled her eyes,

 

“Yeah, I guess.” Carrie said.

 

“Must have been expensive.”

 

“I’m sure they could afford it.” Carrie huffs. Marcia nods, slowly stepping out of the way.

 

“You know… You should invite him over for dinner sometime. I think it would be nice.” She said, and Carrie finally made her escape. _Yeah, so you can interrogate him and subject him to mental torture,_ she thought.

 

“I’ll extend the invite.” She called over her shoulder, knowing it would satisfy her for now. She headed down the steps, pausing as an image caught the corner of her eye. Along the wall, they had family portraits lined up. A few of Margaret and Phil on their wedding day, of Allison when she was a baby, and of Carrie.

 

One, however, was just not right.

 

She hadn’t noticed it before now. It was Easter Sunday some years ago, and Carrie and her mother were in their best. To Carrie’s right, it was cut to the edge of her shoulder, getting rid of who was standing beside her.

 

She heard Marcia behind her,

 

“Dinner’s getting cold.” Marcia reminded her. Carrie’s hand gripped the railing tightly, and she felt her lip tremble.

 

“Why did you do that?” Carrie questions, and Marcia looks to the picture.

 

“Do what? Frame it?” she asked obliviously. Carrie felt her other hand curl into a fist, and she whirls around, looking up at her.

 

“You cut Dad out!” she shouts, and it doesn’t escape her that Marcia visibly flinches. Her expression darkens, and her jaw tenses.

 

“I had to adjust it for the frame.”

 

“Bullshit! You wanted to get rid of Dad!” she cries. Marcia’s face had drained of all color, and her eyes seemed to go black with anger.

 

“Your father is gone, and you must accept that. I won’t disrespect Phil like that, putting a photo of your father up.” She said, her hand grasping the hand rail.

 

“Why are you trying to forget him? He could still be out there!”

 

“Carolyn Robinson-“

 

“ _NO!_ My name is _still_ Carolyn Summerman, and you can’t take that away from me! You _can’t_ take dad away from me-!“ but she was cut short by a harsh and crisp slap to her cheek, making her hit the wall and the photo in the process. The photo wobbles, and then falls with a light clatter on the carpeted stairs. Carrie holds onto the wall, reeling from the shock. But, the anger quickly replaces it and she glares at her mother. Her mother only returns the poisonous look, her hand still clasped tightly on the rail.

 

“Go to your room. Now.” She said icily. Carrie’s face burned, but she stood straight, knees wobbling a bit. Carrie flew past her, slamming her door shut behind her. She was so angry she could cry, but she had no tears left to shed. Only seething anger that boiled her blood and made her stomach turn like cement.

 

Marcia kneels with precision and grace, picking up the photograph to see a crack extending across the portrait. She sees Phil emerge from the kitchen, looking up at her worriedly.

 

“Everything alright?” he questions meekly. Marcia nods, holding the photograph to her chest with a light smile. She replied, with her award-winning, general response,

 

“Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”

 

~

 

Max stormed in first in a fury of red hair and gangly legs. Throwing a greeting to her mother, she flees to her room, slamming the door. Billy comes in a few moments later, taking off his sunglasses once he’s inside.

 

Susan is at the stove cooking dutifully. Billy notes the slight haste in her movements, figuring she must have gotten a late start and was now compensating in it.

 

“Do you need help?” he offers, and she looks to him, smiling lightly.

 

“No, no. I just needed to do the peas-“  


“I got it.” He said, heading to the refrigerator and took out the appropriate items. Before Susan and her excellent cooking skills, Billy was submitted to providing dinner for Neil. And Neil hated a cold, undercooked, or unprepared meal.

 

He had a few scars to prove it, after all.

 

Susan glances at him as he doctors them up, and she stirs the potatoes that were boiling.

 

“Good day today at work?” she questions in the same light tone she asks Neil. He hates it, and it turns his stomach. But he knows it’s how she’s conditioned now, she doesn’t know any better.

 

“Yeah, fine. Fixed up a nice ’67 today, transmission needed replacing.” He said. He glanced at the clock and knew Neil would be on his way home around now.

 

“That’s nice. You like it there?”

 

“I guess. The guys are cool enough, even if they are old as dirt.” He says, and this makes her smile. It reminds him a smile that he saw a long time ago as a boy, one that would tell him that everything would be alright, when it wasn’t.

 

“And it pays, so that’s a plus. Maybe I can save enough to get out of here one day.” He said, though the idea seemed far-fetched. Where would he go? What would he do? Those are questions Neil would ask, and Billy never had answers. And for some reason, that was okay.

 

“I think you just might.” Susan says, and Billy glances at her. She sets the wooden spoon to the side, reaching over and tending to the chicken. He moves out of the way and begins moving to his room.

 

“Hey, Billy.” She said, and he pauses.

 

“I’m proud of you.” She said, and Billy felt his world stop for just a minute.

 

He couldn’t recall the last time anyone had ever said that to him.

 

Not even Neil.

 

Maybe his mother did once. When he had a finger-painting portrait on display at an art fair when he was 8, but it was _so long ago­-_

 

“For getting a job, for watching over Max, for helping.” She said, and he shrugs it off.

 

“Just doing what I need to. It’s fine.”

 

“Of course it is.” She laughs lightly. “But really, I am proud. And I’m… I’m sorry.” She said, and the pity in her voice was wounding. He shakes his head,

 

“Don’t be. You haven’t done anything wrong.” He said, finally looking back to her. Her back was to him by now, and he could see her shoulders relax a little. She turns her head just a bit, her lips parting as she chooses her words carefully.

 

“Neither have you.” She says quietly.

 

And he wants to believe it, he really does. But he knows his sins like he knows the backroads of Hawkins: they’re everywhere and they never stop.

 

Maybe one day, just one day, they will.

 

“Dinner will be ready in five minutes.” She said after a moment of silence, and he nods, shifting on his feet. Mumbling an excuse, he departs to his room for a few moments. Returning, he lays down the table with precision. Just as the timer dings, the headlights flash in the windows as the car pulls in.

 

When they sit down for dinner, it appears to be a perfect family portrait. Neil indulges in telling everyone his day, and Max sits with the same pouty, grim expression. It’s only when Susan coaxes her out into the open does Max’s demeanor change, and she visibly relaxes a little.

 

Susan looks to Billy at some point, and smiles.

 

He meets her eyes to tell her he knows.

 

Oh, he knows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only because I /love/ writing about angsty family times over my Sociology paper. 
> 
> I originally planned to write little snippets of everyone's home lives (the Wheelers, the Byers, and the Sinclairs) but 1) I am incredibly lazy and 2) that's a lot of characters for me and 3) I'm just obsessed with these 3 that I kill myself over them *sigh*
> 
> Also, I know that peirypatt said they barely knew Carrie, so I threw in a bit of backstory/past drama for her that I hope to explore in the future (and it runs deeper than you think...)
> 
> Stay frosty my fellow readers!
> 
> -K


	6. all that you rely on, and all that you can fake

~

 

Carrie leans over the side of her car, looking at the engine. She huffs, rubbing her forehead. It was too hot to be broken down on this desolate road. He nearest house was at least a mile away, and she had no idea whom to expect.

 

She leaned over, checking for any loose wires or valves, but found the engine to be firey hot.

 

Overheated.

 

She stands straight, before hearing the roar of another engine coming down the road. She knew the sound of that engine and shut the hood of the car. Walking to the passenger side, away from the road, she leaned inside to find water or something to help cool down the engine.

 

The car sped down the road, a flash of blue. But then she hears the screech of tires, and the low hum as the car backs up. She stands straight, finding nothing, and leans against the car as the Blue Pinto slides beside hers. The window rolls down, and she sees him. Sunglasses on, one hand on the steering wheel, cigarette between his lips.

 

Why does he have to look so damn _cool?_

 

“Need some help?” He offers over the sound of his engine. She pushes off the car, walking back to the hood.

 

“No.” She says, and he rolls his eyes from under his sunglasses. She was always so stubborn.

 

He pulls the Pinto in front of her tan sedan, killing the engine. He climbs out, turning to her and seeing her bent over the engine of her car. He tilts his head to the side, admiring the view while he could.

 

“I said I don’t need your help, Billy.” She says, standing straight. He took the cigarette out from between his lips, flicking it to the side.

 

“I think I’m your only hope, Princess.” He says, walking to the engine. He kept a few inches of space between them, not wanting to rile her up any more. He took off his sunglasses as he inspected it, checking a few parts.

 

“It’s just overheated.” She insisted, standing back and crossing her arms. She watched Billy lean over the car, his thin white shirt riding up and she could see the skin of his back. She quickly looks away and runs her hands through her hair.

 

“Well, you forget that I work in an auto shop now. And I can tell you that your starter is also blown.” He says, his hands stained with black oil. He leans against the edge of the car, looking back at her.

 

“I can fix it, if you want.” He offers. He can see she’s flustered in the heat, and obviously pissed beyond belief. Her hair sways in the breeze, and her shorts hug her waist.

 

If things were different, he would tell her she’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.

 

“Since when did you get a job?” she said incredulously but shakes her head.

 

“Looks like I don’t have much of a choice, though, do I?” She shrugs in defeat. He glanced around, then opens the back of his car. Taking out a small toolbox, he opens it and sets it to the side on her engine.

 

“Got bored. Got a job.” He said simply. She scoffed at that.

 

He begins working in silence, and she’s careful to watch him. She doesn’t believe he would try to sabotage her car, but this is the first time in a long time that she’s been face to face with him without either of them being intoxicated.

 

He works as efficiently as he can. He feels her watching him. This makes him sweat just a bit more than the heat.

 

“What were you doing on this road, anyway?” He questions.

 

“I could ask you the same thing.” She says darkly. He scoffs,

 

“I think you and I both know this is one of the few roads where “speed limit” doesn’t exist. That’s my excuse, anyway.” He says, glancing at her. Her arms are crossed, and she’s looking at him hard.

 

He wipes his hand on a spare rag, standing straight.

 

“I just have to give the starter a little kick and you should be in business.” he says. She nods, stepping out of the way as he connects two wires to his car, then walks over to her own.

 

“You’re gonna wanna start it when I connect them.” he says, and she hurries to the drivers’ side, climbing in. She hears a click and a hiss, and she turns the key in the ignition. She hears a bang and saw Billy’s figure fall. She jerks up,

 

“Billy!” she cries, scrambling out. She saw his boot first, then saw him sprawled out between their cars. She smells smoke, her heart lurching, and leans over him.

 

“Oh my god, _Billy_ -” she says, her hands hovering over him, unsure what to do. She hears him groan and turn his head to the side.

 

“Shocked me.” he mumbles. She takes his arm, helping him up into a sitting position. His hair was standing up a bit on end, his curls frizzy. His eyes were heavy lidded, and he blinks rapidly.

 

“Are you okay? How did you even-” she shakes her head, glancing at her car. The engine purrs quietly, and he rubs the back of his head.

 

“I’ll live.” he says, looking to her. She then notices the close proximity, and blinks, her hand still on his arm. She pulls her hand away quickly, but she already sees that smirk on his lips.

 

“Worried about me, huh?” he says, his voice deep and gravely. She rolls her eyes,

 

“I’d hate to be stuck out here with your dead body, that’s all.” she says, standing. He grabs the side of the car, pulling himself up and she moves to take off the wires. He stuck out his arm, catching her around her waist. She looks to him in slight alarm, feeling her throat tighten at the short distance between them. She sees his Adam’s apple bob, before speaking,

 

“Really? You wanna get shocked, too?” he says, carefully undoing them without a spark in sight. Turning away, he gathers up his items, setting them in the trunk. She closes the hood, looking to him as his trunk echoes with a _thunk._

 

“Thank you, Billy.” she says, allowing herself to be sincere just this once. He leans against his trunk, crossing his arms with a smirk.

 

“Anything for you.” he says. She can hear the cockiness of it in his voice, but she sees something different in his eyes. She walks to the driver’s side, sliding in and starting up the engine. Relieved as it purrs to life, she shifts it into gear,

 

“Drive safe, okay?” Billy says, nodding to her as she pulled out onto the road. Grabbing her sunglasses off the dash and slipping them on, she looks to him wordlessly and speeds off.

 

It rides like a dream.

 

He watches her speed off, kicking up dust as she drives. He leans into his car, grabbing a pack of cigarettes and lights one. He takes a drag, watching the dust settle as her car disappears around the bend. He shakes his head slightly, climbing into his car. Slamming it shut, he starts his engine.

 

“Fuck me.” he mutters, speeding down the road.

 

 

~

 

Carrie swung out of the ice cream shop, holding the door open as Nancy trailed out behind her. She gave one last wave to the lady at the front desk, waiting for Nancy before letting it shut behind her. Nancy came into step beside her as they walked.

 

“Thanks for calling me. I would have just sat inside all day if you didn’t.” Carrie says, and Nancy shrugs.

 

“Sure thing. Besides, I thought it would be nice… After the fair and all. I know you said-”

 

“Yeah! Although, I was expecting Jonathan to be in tow, to be honest.” Carrie says, licking the strawberry ice cream. Nancy adjusted her napkin around her cone, taking a lick of her vanilla flavored ice cream.

 

“Well, I don’t take him everywhere. I know it may seem like it, but…” she laughs, shaking her head. Carrie nods,

 

“So, you guys are like, a thing? I know you and Steve used to be-”

 

“Yeah. I mean, I guess. Steve and I, we’re… Just friends. I think it’s good that way.” she says as they crossed the street, heading to the tables set up outside a little cafe. Sitting down from across each other, they precariously licked at the ice cream that was beginning to trickle down the sides.

 

“And you? You and Steve seemed… Cozy.” she says, and Carrie’s eyes flickered to her. Nancy didn’t seem defensive, but just genuinely curious. Carrie shrugs,

 

“I don’t think so. Not that there’s been… A moment, or anything like that. Not to my knowledge, anyway.” she says, narrowing her eyes as she wiped at a little drip of ice cream that landed on her thigh. Leaning back, she crossed her legs.

 

“Eh, let’s forget boys. They’re gross, anyway.” Carrie says, looking out to the road. Nancy laughs,

 

“I’ve got to agree.” she says, looking to Carrie carefully before speaking next.

 

“Listen, before… I judged you. When I saw you with-”

 

“Yeah. I know. It looks like he’s become a sort of stain on my reputation.” she says, and Nancy watches her warily as Carrie ate at her ice cream, nodding slightly.

 

“Yeah, erm…. I was wrong, to judge you. I couldn’t look past him, I guess.”

 

“Neither could I.” she murmurs, though Nancy didn’t hear.

 

“But, getting to know you, now… You’re pretty cool.” she says, smiling small. Carrie paused, and looks to Nancy. She felt her chest tighten, and she smiles.

 

“Well, you’ll be the first to get to know me. In a girly sense, because... Well,  I don’t- I haven’t really done this. Gone out with a girl friend. In a long time, anyway.” she says, and Nancy laughs lightly, pushing her bangs back.

 

“I haven’t either. Not since…” she says, her words coming to a slow stop, her lips pursed together. Carrie nods, briefly remembering Barbara, and the “reason” for her unexpected death. It was sad, the whole thing. And the government cover up… It was a mess.

 

“She was nice. Barbara.” Carrie says quietly, and Nancy looks to her, smiling lightly.

 

“Yeah. She was. Always wanted to do the right thing.” she nods, looking at her ice cream cone, beginning to feel a little off-put from it. Carrie shifts to face her and reaches across the table to her.

 

“You were a good friend, Nancy.” Nancy met her eyes, and her smile wanes. If only she had known. That night, the party, with Steve, and Barb saying “ _Nance, let’s go-”_

“I like to think so.” she says, and Carrie grins.

 

“Well, come on. I think they got some new tapes down at Rocco’s Music Store.” she says, standing up. She makes a face when the ice cream dripped over her knuckles, and Nancy laughs, handing her a napkin from her bag.

 

“This is my life. It’s a mess.” Carrie says exasperatingly, wiping it up the best she could. As they walked down the sidewalk, Carrie ended up abandoning the ice cream cone, tossing it in the garbage.

 

“Hey, listen, so I noticed that El girl wasn’t with the kids at the fair. Who is she, some new kid?” Carrie questions. Nancy almost completely stopped, looking to her aghast,

 

“W-What?” Carrie looked to her, confused,

 

“Er, the girl with the short hair. I saw her at Steve’s for a pool party. She hung out with Mike, didn’t really know how to swim. I just assumed you knew her, since-”

 

“Oh, right, El.” Nancy says quickly, nodding.

 

“She’s… Yeah, you could say she’s new. She knows the guys pretty well, like Mike. I just… I don’t think she could come that day.” Nancy explains, trying to make sure it didn’t sound rushed, or too falsified. Carrie didn’t seem to notice, or maybe not really care. She couldn’t tell.

 

“She seems sweet. Quiet, but sweet.” Carrie says, reaching up and pulling her hair into a haphazard ponytail. She jogged ahead and opened the door for Nancy at the music shop. The owner, Ed, greets them as they walked in. Nancy gave a shy smile, and Carrie threw up a peace sign, headed down a well-traveled aisle.

 

“You working this summer?” Carrie questions as she began scanning over some “rock” tapes. Nancy shakes her head,

 

“I probably should, but this is my last summer in Hawkins before we graduate, so… You’re working at the pool, aren’t you?” she questions, and Carrie nods, sighing heavily as she picked up two, flipping them over to read the backs.

 

“Yes. It’s hot, and I have to sit in a stiff seat for an hour or two. You know, it’s just telling kids not to run across the patio, or no diving. It’s not very glamorous, but it pays.”

 

“I bet you’ll have a killer tan by then, too.” Nancy grins, and Carrie looks to her, winking.

 

“That’s the idea.” she says, reaching over and found another one. Nancy moved a bit closer,

 

“Hey, Jonathan likes that band, ‘The Clash.’ You heard of them?” she questions, and Carrie shakes her head.

 

“No, not especially. They any good?”

 

“I guess. Jonathan listens to them on repeat.” Nancy says, shrugging, and walks down the aisle. Carrie tilts her head to the side, shrugging and added it to the one she had in her hand. Nancy looks around, picking up one at random.

 

“Ah, Elvis.” Carrie sighs, and Nancy laughs. Carrie nods,

 

“I used to have the biggest crush on him. Told my mom, when I was 7, that I was going to marry him. She told me there was no way, because he was dead. Kind of crushed my dreams, but… That voice. What’s not to love?” Carrie laughs. Nancy raises her eyebrows, setting it back down.

 

“Not to mention the bad boy persona, the dancing…” Nancy says, shaking her head. Carrie whirls around,

 

“You mean like this?” she says, before shaking her hips and pelvic thrusting. Nancy’s eyes grew big, quickly grabbing Carrie’s arms as she burst into laughter.

 

“Stop! Stop, before someone sees!” she laughs. Carrie rolls her eyes, and Nancy drops her arm.

 

“Come on, was that not true Elvis? Did I not do the hip-thing right?” she says, shaking her hips again, and Nancy laughs, waving her hand.

 

“No, no, he’s definitely rolling in his grave right now about the competition he has.” Nancy giggles, shaking her head. Carrie grins triumphantly,

 

“Always knew I had the potential.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because who doesn't love strong ladies bonding together?
> 
> Sorry the updates are becoming sporadic. I'm running out of chapters to post and time to write! So i'm trying to space them out a little more haha
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it, and feel free to drop a comment. You know how much I love them! :)
> 
> -K


	7. there's an art to life's distractions

~

 

Steve closes the car door, Dustin close behind. The fairgrounds were bustling with energy, and Steve could already smell the scent of cotton candy and funnel cakes. The Ferris wheel turned idly in the distance, the faded colors looked vibrant in the light of the sunset.

 

“Your mom gave you money, right?” Steve questions as Dustin came to his side.

 

“Yup, 5 dollars.” he says proudly.

 

“Don’t spend it all at once, okay?” he says, and Dustin waves him off.

 

“I think you’ll find I’m more capable than you think, Steven. Don’t worry about me.” he says, before spotting Mike and Will standing with Johnathan and Nancy. They made their way over, talking excitedly about the fair. Nancy and Jonathan seemed to stand close, mumbling a few words to one another as Steve stood beside them. Didn’t they know that all of this was _okay_ by now? He harbored no harsh feelings towards anyone, but they always acted so on edge around him.

 

“So, you guys going to ride the Ferris Wheel?” Steve offers, just as a chorus of “hellos” emerge with the appearance of Lucas and Max. Steve’s eyes swept the entrance, and he sees Billy pass through with a blonde on his arm. Turning away, he sees the kids mingle, and notices the El girl wasn’t among them. Looks like the Chief was holding it close tonight.

 

“Where’s El?” Dustin questions, and Mike shrugs,

 

“Hopper says it’s too crowded. I told him we’d all be here, but he said no.” Mike said solemnly, and Dustin could see the tension in his hunched shoulders. But, at least Mike even got to see El nowadays. Besides, they could tell her all about it later, and next year, they could introduce her to the Hawkins Town Fair.

 

“I’ve never been to one of these before,” Max says, looking around, her hands shoved in her jean shorts’ pockets. “I’ve only ever been to amusement parks. Isn’t this like the same thing?” she questioned, garnering a scoff from some of the boys.

 

“It’s a lot of fun. Come on, let’s find the ring toss game!” Will says, and Lucas rolls his eyes.

 

“You know those games are rigged, right? It’s almost impossible to even win…” The kids entered the fair’s threshold, and Steve smiles lightly at Nancy and Jonathan. He opens his mouth to speak, but then a voice calls,

 

“Steve! Hey!”

 

He turns to see Carrie walking towards them, two smaller girls beside her. The curly-haired blonde girl in pigtails, Carrie’s step-sister Allison, walked beside her excitedly. He recognized Lucas’ sister Erica beside her.

 

“Hey, Carrie.” he greets with a smile. Carrie came up to them, pausing and looks down to the two girls.

 

“Now, you two go find Morgan and Sadie, okay? I better not catch you guys wandering around by yourselves, you stick together. Okay?” she said to the girls sternly. Erica rolls her eyes,

 

“We know how to take care of ourselves, Carrie.”  
  
“Yeah, we’re not babies!” Allison says. Carrie shakes her head, taking out some change from her bag, handing it to Allison.

 

“You be back here by 7:30, okay?” she says, and they nod excitedly before running in. She turns, smiling lightly.

 

“Hey, guys.” she greets again. Nancy smiles, going over to greet her friend with a hug.

 

“So glad you came!” she says, and Carrie grins.

 

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” She said, looking to Steve, “I guess you also drove one here, too.” she laughs, turning to Steve. He shrugs,

 

“Looks like I’m Dustin’s chauffer for a while.” he says. She rolls her eyes, and sighs, shaking her head with a light smile.

 

“Anyone want to ride the Ferris wheel?” Nancy offers. Steve shrugs, gesturing the way. Nancy and Jonathan lead, and Steve and Carrie follow behind.

 

“I don’t think I ever thanked you, for that night. At the party.” Carrie says, raising her hands and pulling her hair up into a ponytail. Steve puts his hands in his pockets,

 

“Better late than never.” he says, and she smiles lightly, hitting his arm lightly. Pulling it into place, she lowers her arms.

 

“Seriously, you didn’t have to do that. I only remember calling you and waking up the next day in my own house, thank god. I don’t remember much of anything, I think someone did something to my drink.” she said, and his eyes scanned the crowd idly. Looking to her, he spoke,

 

“Well, you don’t have to worry about it. I just did what I could.” he says and smiles lightly. She met his eyes, returning the smile.

 

“Thanks, Steve.” she said, and they both looked forward as they stood in line for the Ferris wheel. Carrie roped Nancy and Jonathan into a conversation about next year, about their classes and where they wanted to go to college. Steve could see Nancy slowly, a little unwilling at first, begin to talk to Carrie. However, he did see her smile for a few seconds.

 

He was always surprised at the charm of Carrie Summerman.

 

They approached the front, the attendee calling for a couple to go into the cart with another.

 

“We can wait for the next one, you guys go.” Carrie said, gesturing forward. Nancy’s eyebrows furrow,

 

“Are you sure? It won’t be a big deal-”

 

“You better go before it’s taken.” Carrie said, raising an eyebrow. Nancy looks to Jonathan and shrugs, walking up the steps and into the basket. It starts to move and Carrie looks to Steve,

 

“You’re not afraid of heights, are you?” Steve shakes his head,

 

“Nah… Are you?”

 

She looked up at the top of the wheel uneasily, shrugging to the side.

 

“Sometimes.”

 

The next basket opens, and they climb the steps, sitting inside. Steve glances to the side, hearing the attendee ask for another couple. Carrie looks up uneasily at the inside of the Ferris wheel, and Steve looks to her. He sees her wringing her hands, and he places his hand on top of hers.

 

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s just a ride.” he says, and Carrie scoffs.

 

“Yeah, a ride that could kill us.” she says, and he chuckles.

 

“Carrie Summerman, are you afraid of heights, or county fair rides?” They both look up when the next couple boards, and Steve meets the steely blue eyes of Billy Hargrove. Billy’s eyes shift to Carrie, then he sits, the blonde Steve saw earlier settling beside him. The door shuts painfully loud, and Carrie looks to the side.

 

“A bit of both.” she says quietly. The ride starts with a jerk, making Carrie tense.

 

“When we get to the top, you’ve gotta look out. It’s nice, honestly.” Steve says, trying to ignore Billy’s impeding presence. He didn’t want him to ruin this for them.

 

“You want me to look _out?_ What if I pass out, or something?” she says, looking to him incredulously.

 

“Well, I’ll be here to catch you.” he replies simply. She rolls her eyes, but a small smile escapes. An _“aww”_ comes from the blonde girl, and she twists a piece of her big, fluffy hair.

 

“You two are adorable.” she says, and their heads swivel to her in relative alarm. Billy’s arm moves to rest behind the blonde’s shoulders, leaning back and watching them. Steve was afraid to look at him to decipher his expression, afraid he might be thrown from the basket to the ground below.

 

“Y- Um… so are you guys.” Carrie says awkwardly, and Steve looks to her in confusion. She glances at him, shrugging helplessly. The blonde laughs, leaning into Billy. Carrie can see the disdainful look in his face as she does so. But, he doesn’t push her away.

 

“This is our first date. Kinda cute, right? I mean, there’s only so much you can do in Hawkins. How long have you guys been dating?” Billy raises his head at this, and Carrie met his eyes for a fleeting second. She pressed her lips together, looking to the girl with a smile.

 

“We’re not dating, actually. Well- I don’t know.” she says, and Steve looks to her as the Ferris wheel comes to a stop at the top. Carrie’s throat tightens, and she trains her eyes on the floor.

 

“Aren’t you going to look out? Oh, it’s beautiful!” the blonde says, looking out at the landscape with a smile. Billy watches Carrie and tilts his head to the side.

 

“I don’t think so. I think she’s too scared.” he says. Steve feels Carrie become still, and she slowly raises her eyes to Billy. She then sits straight, and shifts to the edge of the basket, looking out. It doesn’t escape Steve that she holds fast to the side, but her eyes sweep over the scene before her.

 

Steve looks over his side, seeing the fair in full swing. He can see the booths lined with games, the food vendors, the stage that’s set up for local bands and performers. The sun is almost completely set, casting the world in a golden and pink glow.

 

Billy watches Carrie look out. The sun sends beautiful rays of light that illuminate her face, and she looks so alive. She’s golden, she’s light, she’s the embodiment of summer.

 

Carrie pulls away abruptly when the wheel jerks to a start again. She ignores the shake in her hands, sitting straight. Looking up, she sees Billy grinning at her. He tilts his head to the side, and she crosses her arms as her eyes bore into his.

 

“Wasn’t that bad.” She comments snidely.

 

~

 

“How was it?” Jonathan says as Steve and Carrie disembarked. Carrie’s shoulders relaxed, and Steve saw her normal smile emerge.

 

“It was… beautiful.” she says, and Nancy scoffs, rolling her eyes.

 

“Well, I wouldn’t say Hawkins is _beautiful,_ but…” she says, and smiles as her and Carrie began walking beside one another. Steve took one more look back, seeing Billy with his arm slung around that blonde, teeth looking a little too bared to be a real smile.

 

~

 

After a few rides, they went to the little food area where all the kids had met up at.

 

“We rode the Tilt-A-Whirl and Dustin almost threw up!” Lucas cackles.

 

“Yeah, during our, like, third time riding it!” Dustin says defensively.

 

“Lucas, you refused to ride the _Inferno_ because it looked like the ceiling could collapse.” Mike interjected.

 

“And, it literally said “Abandon All Hope” across the top. That doesn’t make you _not_ want to ride it?”

 

“The mirrors room was so weird. You gotta go in, Jonathan! It was like… A never-ending dimension of just you. It was weird.” Will says as they bought hotdogs and funnel cakes, sitting at one of the big picnic tables. Carrie seated herself beside Steve, across from Max. The boys were clamoring, taking over one another like usual. Max just rolled her eyes and picked at her cotton candy.

 

“We had weirder rides back in California, at The Pike. I heard they would, honestly, make you _sick._ It was pretty awesome, ‘til they closed it-” she says, and Lucas turned to her.

 

“Sicker than Dustin after the Tilt-A-Whirl?”

 

“Oh yeah,” she says, raising her eyebrows. “Like, green faces, people puking their guts _everywhere-”_

“Hey!” Steve calls, “We’re trying to eat here!” he says, glaring at the two who silently resigned themselves to their food. Carrie turns when she sees Allison walk up with Erica and her other friends, smiling lightly as they came and sat beside them on the other table.

 

“You girls having a fun time?” Carrie questions, taking a bite of her hotdog. Erica shrugs,

 

“ _The Inferno_ isn’t as scary as I remembered it.” she says, and one of the other girls, Morgan, laughs.

 

“You needed Sadie to hold your hand while you rode it!”

 

“Hey, I didn’t say I _wasn’t_ scared.” Erica replies simply, and Allison takes out her change, counting it.

 

“Did you ride the Ferris Wheel?” Carrie questions, and Allison nods.

 

“Yeah! It was awesome, you could see for miles out! Almost over the whole town!” she says, smiling widely. Carrie laughs,

 

“Wish I had your bravery, Ally.” she says as the girls got up to get some food. She licked her fingers that had gotten mustard on them, turning to Steve.

 

“So, hall of mirrors, anyone?”

 

~

 

“I think I have to agree with Lucas on this one. It doesn’t seem very welcoming.” Nancy says as they walked under the threshold for the _Inferno._ Carrie shrugs,

 

“It’s supposed to. You know, drive away the weak ones.”

 

“And we’re not weak.” Steve says, and they stepped into line. Giving them one of their tickets, they could cross the loading deck and into the rickety little carriages. Carrie slid into the back one, Steve beside her as Jonathan and Nancy took the one in the front. Steve’s knees hit the front of the carriage, and he felt a little claustrophobic. Carrie set her bag at her feet as the little bar settled in their lap, and with a questionable squeak and a groan, the ride was off.

 

“That’s not weird at all.” Carrie says, a devilish man hanging over them as they were plunged into darkness. Steve flinched when fake fires erupted around them, and he could feel the heat on his face. Ghoulish figures danced in the background, and demonic sounds and deep laughter were played from the speakers.

 

A skeleton drops from the ceiling, matched with a blood curdling scream from the speakers. Carrie shrieks just as Nancy does, and Carrie grabs Steve’s arm, turning her face away. When they passed it, she finally looked up again. Steve laughs,

 

“Come on, it wasn’t that scary.” he says, and looks forward as they moved to another room decked out to be a graveyard of some sort. It was spooky, and had ghosts floating above them from the ceiling. The sound of rushing wind plays, adding to the effect.

 

“This isn’t so b- _hOLY SHIT!”_ Steve cries, slapping a hand over his eyes as a gigantic fake spider jabs out of the corner at them. Carrie shouts, but it turns to laughter.

 

“Steve, what happened to us not being weak?” she laughs, reaching up to pull his hand away from his face. He shakes his head,

 

“No, no, I take it back. I’m _definitely_ weak-” he says, and grins when Carrie yanks his hand away, playfully bumping into his shoulder. She looks down at his hand that she was still holding, peering at his watch.

 

“Shit, is that the time?” she questions, and lifts his hand up for more light before he yanks it back down as a ghost swoops right above their heads.

 

“Do you want my hand to be eaten off?!” he cried incredulously. She rolls her eyes, shaking her head.

 

Disembarking the ride, they talked about the ride, both its cheesiness and the fact they were all sort of jittery.

 

“That ride used to scare me even as a kid. It’s still pretty terrifying.” Jonathan says, shaking his head.

 

“Agreed. And to think it’s supposed to be “family friendly.” Good lord.” Carrie says, shaking her head.

 

“Hey, Carrie, it’s 7:15.” Steve reminds her, and nods.

 

“Sorry, I gotta find my sister and her friends. I’ll see you guys later?” Carrie questions. Nancy nods, smiling lightly.

 

“Definitely. I’ll call you!” she said, and Carrie smiles.

 

“Sounds good. See you guys!” she says, and Steve hurries to her side.

 

“I’ll walk with you. I need to check on Dustin, anyway.” he says. She slung her bag over her shoulder, and smiles.

 

“Sure.” she says and walks with him. He puts his hands in his pockets, glancing at the people as they passed. It always looked like all of Hawkins turned up for these things. When something happens in a town as small as this, you take every opportunity to have fun.

 

“So, did you have a good time?” Steve questions, glancing to her. She nods, her eyes trained forward.

 

“I did. However, I could have done without the Ferris Wheel.” she says, and Steve laughs dryly,

 

“Me, too.” He turned his head, passing the rides that were now being illuminated with their fluorescent lights. Some blinked, others shone brightly.

 

They approached the entrance, stepping out of the way of people passing through. As they turn, they see Erica and the other two girls, but Allison is nowhere in sight.

 

Carrie’s stomach immediately turns.

 

“Erica, where’s Allison? I thought I told you guys to stick together.” she says, meeting them halfway. Steve’s eyes were scanning the crowd, wondering if Allison had just been a minute or two behind. But, Erica looked distressed.

 

“We lost her around the petting zoo. We wanted to go play the ring toss, and we thought she was behind us. But…”

 

“When was this?” Carrie questions, her tone serious, grave.

 

“I dunno, 15 minutes ago?” Sadie says, twisting the end of her dress worriedly. Carrie runs her hand over her head, and stands, looking to them.

 

“I’m going to look for her, okay? You three stay here with Steve until Sadie’s mom gets here-”

 

“Carrie.” Steve says, and Carrie looks ahead. Allison is walking expeditiously towards them, a figure following her close behind.

 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” she mutters, taking a few steps forward. “Allison, get over here!” she calls, and Allison quickens her steps to meet her. Taking her arm, she holds her close, looking to Billy darkly.

 

“Found her wandering around the ring toss games. Said she couldn’t find her friends.” he says, putting his hand in his pocket. Steve crosses his arms, watching him. Billy gives him a glance and a nod of recognition. But, surprisingly, nothing more.

 

“I told you not to talk to strangers.” Carrie hissed. Allison looked up to her innocently,

 

“But I remembered Billy. You guys were friends-”

 

“Okay, Allison. I got it.” she looks to Billy. She contemplates her next words and shakes her head.

 

“Don’t talk to my sister, Hargrove. Ever.” she said. He shrugs,

 

“Don’t lose her, then. Bye, Allison.” he says, waving. She waves back, and Carrie quickly pulls her arm down, turning her around. She ushers the girls out to the parking lot, and Steve doesn’t let his gaze waver from Billy.

 

“What’s your play, Hargrove?” he says, and Billy takes a few steps towards him. Blue eyes flare, and Steve finds his feet firmer on the ground.

 

“You got a problem, Harrington?” he says, his finger twitching at his side. He was begging, _begging_ Steve to say something to set him off. Anything would do just fine.

 

“Don’t think I don’t see what you’re doing to her. She doesn’t need you.” he says, and Billy’s lips tighten over his teeth in a sour smile.

 

“Who said she needed me? She’s got you, right? Perfect, nice, pretty Steve Harrington. Take her out on nice dates and hold her hand like a good boy.” Billy taunts, and Steve felt his fists tighten.

 

“Well, if she ever gets bored of you and your pretty-boy attitude, she knows where I am. Always.” he says, and his grin is sickening. Steve feels his ears ring, and he takes a few steps until he hears someone call his name. Looking back, he sees Dustin with Lucas and Max, Jonathan and Nancy following behind with the others. Billy’s smile falters,

 

“Guess there’s _not_ a fire in you after all. My mistake.” he says, turning and pushing past Dustin and Lucas, back into the carnival. Dustin quickly approaches Steve, glancing back at Billy with a scrunched-up face.

 

“What the hell’s his problem?” he questioned. Steve sighs, shaking his head. He wasn’t like Billy, he wasn’t a fighter. He wasn’t an asshole who said things to get a rile out of people, asking to get punched.

 

He wasn’t like him in other ways, too.

 

“Hell if I know.”

 

~

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have had this chapter written for AGES !! I'm so happy to finally share it with you guys, it's one of my favorites!!  
> I really enjoyed writing the county fair atmosphere, and I incorporated a LOT of characters into it... I'm very happy with the finished product. Feel free to tell me what you think. Thoughts, questions, concerns... Whatever it is, you guys know I'm more than happy to receive anything! Love you guys <3
> 
> -K


	8. rain keeps falling down, down, down

~

 

Carrie swung the gate out from in front of her, pushing it back as it shuts. The sky was fading in and out of shades of pink and orange over Hawkins to signal the end of that day. It was still hot, and she could feel the sweat that stuck her hair to her neck and forehead. She reeked of sweat and chlorine, wanting to get home wash the day away entirely.

 

Adjusting her bag on her arm, heat rose from her arms, noting the slight redness of it. She would have to stop at the store on the way home for lotion if she wanted to avoid a sunburn.

 

Slinging her towel over her shoulder, she paused at the sight before her.

 

Billy Hargrove, cigarette in hand, leaning against her car.

 

Waiting for her.

 

“Can I help you?” She says icily.

 

“You changed your hair.” He states. She doesn’t bother wasting time and walks to the passenger side door, where he was waiting. With a slight push and a little lean from him, she opens the door. She throws her bag and towel inside with just a little more force than necessary.

 

“I want to talk.” he adds hastily, and she slams the door, looking to him. He slowly looks at her, and she lets her shoulders fall.

 

“I have nothing to say to you, Billy.” she says defeatedly, turning and walking around her hood. Billy turns to her, exhaling smoke through his nose.

 

“I think you owe me at least one conversation.” he says, following her a step or two more. She throws her head back with a biting laugh and turns to him.

 

“Are you serious? For what? My car?”

 

“That, and… Finding your little sister. I didn’t have to do that.” he says, pausing, resting his hand on the hood of her sedan. Her eyes followed his arm, looking toned in the white t-shirt, to his hand that looked almost possessive on her hood. She shakes her head, reaching for the door handle.

 

She would _not_ allow herself to fall into this again.

 

“You don’t deserve anything from me.” she says, and he hurries to her side, pushing the door closed slightly.

 

“Let me take you out.”

 

“Fuck, _what?”_

“Just once. To a stupid diner, or some shit. I want to talk to you, Carrie.” he says, his eyes searching hers that refused to meet his. She shakes her head, looking to the gate of the poolside, pushing her hair back.

 

She sighs, knowing this was how the whole summer would go if she didn’t just commit to it. He would always _be_ there, anywhere she turned. Staring at her, fighting to put a word in with her, putting Steve off or making her friends uncomfortable.

 

She rubs her arm lightly, the stinging of her skin bringing her back. She took in a deep breath, bracing herself.

 

“Fine. On two conditions.” She looks to him pointedly, and he stands straight at this, subconsciously licking his bottom lip. He felt a victory, no matter how small. If she needed this, he would gladly give it to her.

 

“Anything. You name it.” he says, allowing his voice to sound just a little more eager. Leaning his elbow on the top of her car, he met her eyes with his undivided attention. She didn’t waver under his gaze, she never seemed to.

 

“You don’t bring up Steve. Don’t ask, don’t even insinuate anything about him, no matter how much you want to ask.” she says, and his jaw tenses slightly, but he nods.

 

He’s giving this to her, he reminds himself.

 

“And second,” she says, facing him fully. The force of her gaze gives him a twinge of inferiority, and he slowly lifts his arm off her car. He feels like he needs to plant his feet just to look at her.

 

“We don’t talk about what happened _that_ day. No questions, no comments.” she says. Her amber eyes look bright gold in the waning sunlight, and he nods slightly. Or, he thinks he does. This seems to satisfy her, and her eyes soften just a bit. She nods, and he can see her stance become significantly less defensive.

 

“Good. Thank you.” she mumbles, and she opens the car door as he steps out of the way.

 

“I’ll pick you up Tuesday.” he says, and she looks to him,

 

“No. I’ll- I’ll… Call you.” she says, and slides into her car, slamming the door. He takes another step back as she pulls out, and she doesn’t look at him twice.

 

Well, it’s something.

 

~

 

“What are we supposed to do? It’s _raining.”_ Lucas says, sitting on the couch in Mike’s basement. All the kids had come together to find something to do, but the weather did a 180, and now it was almost pitch black with heavy rains. It sucked, because they were supposed to go biking down the trails, showing El and Max all the places to go.

 

“We could plan our next campaign.” Will suggests from the table. Dustin shakes his head,

 

“Next campaign is _already_ planned. We did that the last time it was raining.” He said, itching at his nose.

 

“We could watch TV.” Mike offers, Eleven’s head in his lap as they sat on the floor. She was staring at a magazine that Nancy had discarded, something to do with fashion and extremely thin ladies. Mike didn’t like it, but Eleven insisted on seeing it, since she was learning, quite quickly, how to read.

 

“You know your dad is gonna be up there. We don’t want to be lame watching TV with him.” Lucas says, and Max snorts.

 

“Like you have an issue with being lame.” Lucas sends her a look, but they both smile.

 

“How about cards? Everybody can play cards. We can teach El how to play Texas Hold ‘Em.” Dustin says, and Eleven shakes her head, her eyes scanning the pages steadily.

 

“No cards. It’s boring.”

 

Dustin and Will sigh, at a loss for what to do with their friends. They all sat around idly, with the rain pattering against the windows.

 

“Will could get lost and we could look for him again.” Dustin pipes up, and all eyes immedietly show to him with dark looks.

 

“Too soon?” he says with a weak smile. Will smiles, laughing lightly.

 

“It’s true, though. I am the current champion of hide-and-seek.” He says, and that broke a few smiles, even a few chuckles. Will stood up, going to his bag, and began going through it.

 

“Will, we were kidding. Please don’t get taken by a Demogorgon again!” Lucas cries, and Will stands, holding a small plastic box with a tape inside.

 

“No, Jonathan made me a new mixtape. You want me to play it?” he offers, glancing around. Shrugs and murmurs of indifference sounded, and he walked to Mike’s radio, opening it up and sliding it in. He pressed play and the music began to play.

 

_Hey, hey, hey, hey!_

“This doesn’t sound like your typical music, Will.” Dustin says as he sits back down. He shrugs.

 

“Jonathan said he added some “mainstream” stuff, too. Doesn’t want to keep me out of the loop.”

 

_Won’t you come see about me?_

_I’ll be alone, dancing you know it baby._

_Tell me your troubles and doubts_

_Giving me everything inside and out._

Lucas begins nodding to it, and furrows his eyebrows.

 

“Wasn’t this in some movie that Nancy was talking about going to see? _The Lunch Bunch_ or something?”

 

“It’s _The Breakfast Club,_ dork. And it’s okay.” Max says, crossing her arms. Lucas and Dustin looked to her with wide eyes,

 

“You saw it?!” Dustin cries

 

“But how did you, if it’s R-rated?” Lucas questions. She rolled her eyes,

 

“It’s called sneaking in. Looks like you guys have never tried.”

 

“Oh, we’ve tried. We can’t get in because of Dustin’s fluffy head.” Lucas chuckles, and Dustin rolls his eyes.

 

“That, and _you’re_ a terrible liar!”

 

_Don’t you forget about me_

_Don’t don’t don’t don’t_

_Don’t you forget about me_

Eleven slowly lowers the magazine, listening to the music. She quite liked it, it sounded different from the older, more swingy music Hopper plays. It sounds _cool._

“What is this?” She questions, sitting up. Will looks to her, and thinks.

 

“Um, the Simple Minds, I think?” he says, and Eleven rifles around her bag, pulling out a small notepad and pen. She writes down things she wants to know more about, to ask Hopper or Mike about later. She wants to remember the song, and flips to a fresh page.

 

“You left out the ‘e.’” Mike says, pointing to ‘simpl’ scrawled out on the paper. She quickly jots one down, spelling out the next word perfectly.

 

“What’s the name of the song?” Mike questions, and Will reminded him politely. Eleven takes her time writing it (and with Mike’s supervision) she has the entire song title written out. Apostrophes and all.

 

“Looks good.” Mike says, and she smiles, looking up at him.

 

“Hopper says it looks like chicken scratch.” Mike tilts his head to the side, studying the words and shrugs.

 

“He hasn’t seen mine. You’ll get better, I promise.” He says with a smile.

 

_As you walk on by_

_Will you call my name?_

_When you walk away…_

 

~

 

A few streets down, another group was having less trouble finding something to do on that rainy day.

 

With Carrie’s mom and father away, she invited Steve, Nancy and Jonathan over to hang out. They had played a rather intense game of Monopoly (Jonathan emerged victorious with the most hotels, though Nancy was the one with the most amount of money). After flipping through channels, they decided to put on a movie and call it a day.

 

They fell into a strange routine. Nancy and Jonathan would sit together, or in close proximity, and Steve and Carrie would reflect them. Though nothing had been said between them, Nancy was certain something was bound to happen.

 

Or so she thought.

 

“Hey, you wanna help me make some popcorn?” Carrie questions to Nancy, and she nods, hopping up from the armchair, following her to the kitchen. The movie played overhead, and Carrie retrieved one of the popcorn packets that you had to put over the stove to make.

 

“I actually wanted to tell you something.” Carrie says, and Nancy met her eyes. She nods slightly, encouraging her to go on. Carrie glances at the living room, before looking back at her.

 

“Billy asked me out. Sort of.” She deadpans. Nancy lifts her head, glancing to the side, and slowly gave a nod.

 

“Okay…” Nancy says, watching her carefully, “Why? Wh-What happened? Where-” she said, shaking her head.

 

Carrie sighs exasperatingly, and turns to the stove, making sure the popcorn wasn’t burning entirely.

 

“It’s just… He cornered me. I know he’s not going to give up if I don’t commit to it at least _once_. I really don’t want to, but I think it’ll stop him from following me around and… And trying to freak you guys out.” She says, and Nancy shakes her head.

 

“I don’t get it. Why? Why now?”

 

“He said he wants to talk. And take me out.” She scoffs,

 

“As if that’ll happen. I highly doubt his intentions are _that_ noble.” She says, looking down at the popcorn as it began to rise. Nancy looks to it as well, then back to Carrie. She spoke after studying her face for a moment,

 

“I don’t think you should. Go with him, that is.” She says. Carrie’s gaze didn’t waver.

 

“I don’t have much of a choice.”

 

“Yes, you do. You just gotta fight him-“

 

“I’ve been fighting him, avoiding him for a while now, Nance.” Carrie sighs, and she sounds so tired. She rubs her eyes,

 

“I feel like… If I just give him this last bit of time, he’ll be out of my life for good. And I can focus on other things.” She says, nodding. Nancy glances into the living room.

 

“Does Steve know?”

 

“If he did, he’d find Billy and try to beat his face in.” Nancy shakes her head, and huffs.

 

“Unlikely chance of that.” She mumbles. Carrie pushed the popcorn off the stove, looking to Nancy.

 

“Dustin said something about Billy beating Steve’s face in. Did they… did they fight, at some point?” she said carefully. Nancy looks to her in alarm, and shakes her head.

 

“It’s- I don’t know. It’s not my place-“ she says, then sighs, shaking her head.

 

“Yeah. They did, once.”

 

“Do you know why?”

 

“No. I-“ Nancy began, but looks up when footsteps entered the kitchen. Steve pauses, foot still in mid-air, looking between them.

 

“I… Just checking on the popcorn.” He said, smiling lightly. “Everything okay?” He said, leaning an arm on the doorway.

 

Nancy looked to Carrie, who passed her a look,

 

“It’ll be ready in just a few seconds.” Nancy said, and Carrie sighs.

 

“Steve, did you fight Billy before?” Steve gawks, opening his mouth and then shutting it. Nancy’s eyes shoot to the floor, and she shakes her head.

 

“Carrie-“

 

“Yeah.” Steve says, shrugging, shifting his shoulder against the doorframe. “I did. He laid a lot more on me, though. Nearly killed me, apparently.”

 

Nancy looks to him, then to Carrie. She purses her lips, and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

 

“He was defending the kids-“

 

“No. Steve, why did he do it?” He glances at Nancy, who shakes her head slightly, and he looks to Carrie.

 

“He came to Will’s house one night, when they were playing or hanging out or some shit.” He says, and Nancy turns away, shaking her head slightly. There was so much, so _much_ that she didn’t know-

 

“He was looking for Max, and he thought… I don’t know what he thought. But, he hit me. Then he went in… He went in after the kids. Particularly Lucas.” He says, rubbing the back of his neck.

 

“So… I mean, I defended them. He kind of… He got the upper hand though. Max saved us in the end.” He said, and Carrie nods. Nancy’s head jerked to the popcorn, yanking it off the stove as it began to smoke. Carrie whirls around, waving the smoke away and turned off the stove. Jonathan then hurries in, looking around.

 

“What’s burning?!” he cries.

 

“It’s just the popcorn!” Nancy says, waving a hand over the smoke. Carrie lifts it off the burner, and sighs heavily. Steve pushes off the doorway, and met Carrie’s eyes before he turned and walked to the living room as Jonathan grabbed something to quell the smoke that began circulating in the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey hey!! Wassup errybodyyyy  
> Sorry, I had a little bit of a mental break. I was a little discouraged from the lack of response from the last chapter I posted, so that kind of put me in a rut? I thought fuck it, i'll just keep posting anyway haha!  
> I have a lot planned, but I'm struggling to make it coherent. What are you guys looking forward to? Billy/Carrie? Steve/Carrie? More Carrie && Nancy friendship (bc who doesn't luv some gr8 female friendship) ?? Maybe some Tommy and Billy tension. Also, Fourth of July, anybody???
> 
> Please tell me what you think, and what you're looking forward to! Also, if you have any ideas you'd like to see be played out in here, I'd love to incorporate it! (So long as it's story-appropriate lol)
> 
> You know I love you guys. Drop a comment &/Or kudos and make my frikkin life <333
> 
> -K


	9. in these small hours

“Hey, thanks for helping out today.” Steve said, unloading a fold-out table from the back of his car. Carrie shrugs, taking the bags of junk food, pushing down the trunk.

 

“I figured I needed to make it up to you, for putting you on the spot the other day.” She said, and they carried the items to the front door of the Henderson household. Steve shrugs,

 

“You wanted to know. Probably needed to know. Although, the delivery of the question could have been better.” He chuckles, raising his hand to knock on the door, but it opens. He smiles as a shriek sounds,

 

“Oh, Steve! You’re here!” Claudia Henderson cries, turning around. “Dusty, Steve’s here!”

 

“Good to see you as always, Mrs. Henderson.” He says, and she steps out of the way, gesturing them inside.

 

“I’m so glad this worked out today. I have an extra long shift, and I didn’t want to leave Dustin alone-“

 

“Mom, I’m technically a highschooler now. I don’t need a baby sitter.” He says, carrying a massive binder holding the D&D rules and regulations. Claudia nods, and sighs,

 

“I know, but what if you get constipated, and you-“

 

“Okay! Anyway!” Dustin says, shaking his head and putting the binder on the couch. “Steve, you can put the table in the middle here.” He said, gesturing to the empty space in the living room. He looks up and smiles,

 

“Hey, Carrie. Glad you came.” He says, taking the bags and carrying them to the kitchen. Claudia looks around anxiously,

  
“Are you sure you guys don’t need anything else? I feel like I should have made something-“

 

“Don’t stress, Mrs. Henderson. We’re gonna look after them.” Carrie says, and Claudia looks to her with a relieved expression.

 

“And you must be Steve’s girl friend. Carolyn, right?”

 

“Just Carrie, ma’am. And we’re not-“ she said, but Dustin walked out and put the binder on the table.

 

“Mom, mom.” He said, capturing her attention. “You’re going to be late.” He said, pointing to the clock. She squeaks, grabbing her keys and her bag.

 

“Okay, I hope you kids have fun. I left my number on the fridge, and Dusty has memorized it. If you need anything, anything at all-“ And Dustin came over, taking her hands lightly.

 

“Mom, I love you, okay? We’ll be fine.” He said, smiling lightly, and she nods. Giving his cheek a kiss, he winces, and she gives a wave before heading out the door. Carrie blinks, and tries to take in the interaction.

 

“She’s… Something.” She said, and Steve nods,

 

“Something else, that’s for sure.”

 

“Ok guys, they should be getting here any time now. I’m gonna start setting up the board, even though Mike will probably reset it anyway. Steve, can you get the sodas from the fridge?” Steve nodded obediently, giving Carrie a shrug as he headed to the kitchen. She shakes her head, smiling lightly and turned as there was a knock on the door. She moved to open it, and a ball of firey-red, angry hair stood before her. Max’s face was scrunched up, her shoulders tense, and she flew past Carrie inside.

 

“You’re early.” Dustin observed as Carrie shut the door. Max set down her skateboard carefully, but then threw herself on the armchair.

 

“Family was being particularly stupid. Thought I might as well come over, I have nothing better to do.” She said, throwing up her hands exasperatingly. Carrie’s eyebrows furrowed empathetically,

 

“What happened? Was it Neil?” she said, and Max looked to her with an expression between shocked and offended. But, she shrugged, huffing.

 

“When is it not?” she said, and Carrie shrugs, walking to the couch, sitting down.

 

“I heard he’s a dick sometimes.”

 

“A lot of the time.” Max corrected her coldly. “I know where my brother gets his charming personality.” She said, and Carrie nods apathetically.

 

“Was it about today?” Carrie offers after a few moments, and Max eyed her.

  
“We’re not friends.” She stated, and while it stung, Carrie gave her a look of indifference.

 

“Okay, true, I guess. But, I was just trying to help. One girl to another.” She said, and smiled lightly. Max scoffs, shaking her head and looked away. The door knocked, and Carrie busied herself with ushering in Mike and Will, and the volume in the living room heightened significantly. With Lucas’ appearance, Carrie thought they were done. The boys were forming their campaign, talking about it animatedly with Max, who sat by Lucas in relative confusion but also interest. Steve had some bowls of chips and put them on the coffee table that was pushed to the side, and turned on the TV, settling on the couch as he waited for Carrie to join him. She was retrieving a drink of water from the kitchen when the doorbell rang again, and she trudged over again, wondering who it could be now-

 

Her eyes widened,

 

“Chief Hopper.” She said, recognizing the scruffy, tall man immedietly. He looked just as surprised as she was, and his eyebrows knit together.

 

“Who-“

 

“Carrie.” A quiet voice said, and she saw El peek out from beside him, smiling lightly. Carrie smiled lightly at the familiar face, her heart rate declining just a bit.

 

“You know her?” Hopper questioned to the small, timid girl. She nods,

 

“Yes. She is a friend.” She said, her words sounding like they were chosen very carefully, but meaningfully. Hopper looked back to Carrie, who offered as friendly of a smile as she could.

 

“Right, um- Carrie, yeah? This is… this is my daughter, Ja-“ but El quickly tugged at his sleeve, and Carrie nods.

 

“Yeah, I met El at Steve’s pool party.” She said, and Hopper looks to her, glad he wasn’t caught in a name mix-up. Eleven smiles, and Hopper glances behind Carrie,

 

“Is- Steve’s around?” he questions, a roar coming from the living room of the kids beginning their campaign. Carrie nods, glancing back.

  
“Do you want me to get him? He’s just watching TV..” she said, and he shakes his head.

 

“No, no it’s fine.” He said, turning to Eleven.

  
“Ok, I’ll be back at 11. No later, okay? And no Eggos after 10.” He said, and El nods, and he smiles, giving her a light hug. Carrie glanced away awkwardly, and smiled when he released her inside.

 

“Nice to meet you, sir.” She said quickly, and Hopper looks to her, nodding slightly.

 

“Yeah you, too, kid.” He said with a light smile before turning away. Carrie closed the door, sighing sharply. She never thought that her interaction with the police would be like _this…_

 

“Your hair.” El said, and Carrie looks to her. El was looking to her in distress, over her short locks. Carrie glances around, twisting a piece.

 

“Oh, um, yeah. I cut it. It was too much for me to handle.” She said, and Eleven nods, her face softening.

 

“You’re still pretty.” She said, smiling. Carrie was touched by her unfiltered kindness, smiling lightly.

  
“You, too. So, you like Eggos?” El nods excitedly, and Carrie gestures inside.

 

“Steve and I picked up some at the store. You wanna make some with me?” she offers, and El nods again quickly. Walking through the house, the boys greet El in a chorus, and Mike jumps up to give her a more personal greeting, along with a hug. Carrie gestured to the kitchen to Steve, who stood up and followed her. She fished out the Eggos from the freezer, and Steve got out some plates.

 

“Have a hankering for some Eggos?” he muses, and Carrie shrugs,

 

“Sort of. I had no idea El loves Eggos, probably as much as I do. Hey, El, how many do you want?” she calls, and El quickly trots to the kitchen, eyeing the box hungrily.

 

“Three.” She said, and Carrie nods, shelling out four and putting them in the toaster.

 

“Not much to making them.” She said, pressing down the lever. She opens the refridgerator,

 

“What do you like on them? I like butter and whipped cream…” Carrie said, taking out the items.

 

“Sprinkles, and chocolate.” Eleven said, eyeing the chocolate. Steve leans over, getting the sprinkles from the cabinet.

 

“A girl after my own heart.” Carrie laughs, and the _bing_ and pop of the toaster makes both Carrie and El jump. She laughs, shaking her head.

 

“It gets me every time.” Carrie said, careful to get them out without burning herself on the top of the toaster. Stacking Eleven’s three, she allowed her to build her own as she put butter on her own, adding some whipped cream. Steve’s eyes widened as Eleven doubled the height of her waffles, and Carrie just watched in amusement.

 

When she was satisfied, El took her plate to the kitchen table and sat down, using a fork to cut the monstrous stack of Eggos. Carrie sat beside her, and Steve hesitated, but decided to go back to the living room to keep the boys from tearing apart the house.

 

“He says I will get dia-beetees.” Eleven says between mouthfuls. Carrie laughs,

 

“Who, Jim Hopper?” Carrie laughs, and Eleven nods.

 

“Yes. He says I eat too much.”

 

“Well, you’re growing, aren’t you? It’s good to eat… Besides, you would have to consume a lot of sugar and have a lot wrong with you to have diabetes.” Carrie said, taking a bit after swirling it in whipped cream. Eleven looks to her as she chews, and she nods. As she shovels the Eggos into her mouth, they heard the rising and falling of the boys’ voices, sometimes Max crying out every now and then in frustration. Eleven’s lips tug down,

 

“Do you like Max?” Eleven questions quietly, remember seeing her that day in the gym, circling Mike. He looked happy, with someone normal.

 

Carrie lifts her head, and nods.

  
“Sure I do.” She said, cutting a piece of Eggo a little smaller. “She may not always be nice, but I know she’s good.” Eleven’s nose wrinkles, and she takes another bite.

 

“She is mean?”

 

“No, not mean.” Carrie said, thinking back on it for a moment. “She’s just angry, I guess. About her family. Her stepdad, and her brother.”

 

“Why?” Carrie looks to Eleven, but she just looked stony and expressionless. Carrie shrugs,

 

“They’re… just bad, I guess.”

 

El’s expression changed drastically, and her eyes shot down to her plate.

  
“Bad?”

 

“Yeah. They’re… they’re not very nice to her. I don’t know how, but I just… I know that much.” She says, and El looks to Carrie. She recognized the pain in her expression, and El glanced back at the living room, wondering if she should try to be a little nicer to her. Mike never really told her to do so, but she could sense the tension at times. Maybe Eleven could help her with her family, like how she helped Mike with that mouthbreather, Troy.

 

When she had finished, she put the fork on the plate.

  
“Thank you, Carrie.” El said, and stood up. Carrie took her plate, setting it on top of hers.

 

“You’re quite welcome. I’m sure Mike is missing you.” She said, and Eleven nods, turning on those gangly legs and heading to the living room. Carrie smiles, standing up and carried the plates to the sink, turning on the water. Steve took that opportunity to slide in, glancing back at the living room before moving to her side as she washed the plates and forks.

 

“That was nice.” He said, “Making Eggos.”

 

Carrie glanced back at him with a light smile,

 

“Well, they’re fairly easy. Plus, they’re pretty delicious…” she laughs, and he walks over, taking a rag and drying off the plates. Setting them to the side, he takes the forks and knives as well.

 

“I didn’t know Hopper had a daughter.” Carrie said, and Steve passed a glance to her. He hesitated, not exactly knowing the logistics of it himself, but knew it had to do with all the weird shit the kids have gone through these past two years. He grappled for an explanation, anything-

 

“She’s adopted. Hopper’s sister, she- Erm…” he said, his face twisting to a frown. Carrie’s expression fell, and her eyes widened with pity and sorrow.  


“Oh, that must be so awful. For the both of them…” she said, looking to the living room where she could hear indistinct talking. Steve shrugs,

  
“It, um, actually happened a year or two ago.” He adds, glancing at the living room, “But I wouldn’t mention it to El, though. It’s- sensitive topic.” He said with a nod. Carrie returned the nod in understanding,

 

“Of course. I wouldn’t imagine bringing it up.” She said, and Steve shifted on his feet slightly, wondering how he would transition from such a bleak (but somewhat fabricated) topic. So, he decided to open his mouth and speak.

 

“So, what are you doing for the 4th?” he questions. She shuts off the water, wiping off her hands.

 

“Oh, god. That’s soon, isn’t it? I have no idea. Hawkins always has that, like, town-wide barbecue…” she said, knowing she’d probably be roped into going with her family and her little sister. She couldn’t imagine a more distressing night following her nuclear family around, giving off fake smiles and friendly waves to people she barely knows.

 

“Yeah, with the fireworks and stuff. I heard they actually have fireworks this year.” He said, raising his eyebrows. Carrie cocked an eyebrow, a small smirk on her face,

  
“Really? After all this time?”

 

“I know. You’d think they’d learn their lesson. But, what’s the 4th of July without fireworks?” he laughs. 1979 was the last time Hawkins had fireworks, and it was a disaster. The pyrotechnics in charge of the fireworks had gotten riproaring drunk, and lit them off all willy-nilly. A few actually fell onto someone’s house and started a fire, and another was fired into Hawkin’s oldest Oaktree, a town landmark. So, this was a big step for Hawkins in re-introducing fireworks for their festivities.

 

“Well, I’ll probably be there. With all those crazy cats.” He said, gesturing to the living room as an explosion of anguished screams erupted, and they both wince.

 

“You think you would want another babysitter? Or are you _the_ babysitter?” Carrie questions, her statements all in jest. She knew none of the kids in there needed to be babysat, but apparently their parents still thought so. She didn’t know why their parents were so uptight, especially since this was Hawkins, after all.

 

“Oh, believe me, I _am_ the babysitter. But, I can allow an assistant for one night.” He said, and she smiles,

 

“How generous of you. I’d be glad to help.” She said with a nod. He grins, putting a hand on his hip,

 

“I’ll be looking forward to it.” He said, beginning to lean against the counter but the sound of footsteps sounds, and Mike sticks his head into the kitchen.

  
“We need paper towels, ASAP! Dustin spilt a Coke on the board!” he says urgently,

 

“IT WAS AN _ACCIDENT!”_ Dustin howls from the next room, and Carrie and Steve look to one another.

 

“Yeah, I’ll need all the help I can get.” Steve laughs. Carrie grins, grabbing the cleaner and Steve took up the roll of paper towels. Armed, and not very dangerous, they set out to help the crew of gaggling kids awaiting them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's not dead!
> 
> A long awaited update (so sorry!) but, better late late than never, right? 
> 
> So, there have been a lot of developments for season 3!! And that's so exciting!!! A mall, Steve has a job, it's summertime...!
> 
> ...But that also throws this entire fanfiction under the bus. 
> 
> So, I think i'll try (the word is *try*) to incorporate aspects of season 3 into this (like the mall and Steve's job, that'll be easy), but I think it's safe to say that the rest of this will be strictly AU. Sad, but true. I really don't want to throw out the entire thing, since I've had so much fun writing, and so much fun seeing your feedback! I could use all the support I can get, and I hope you few faithful readers are still out there...
> 
> There might be another gap between now and the next chapter, but bear with me! Next one will be good ol', Carrie & Billy... uh oh.
> 
> Hope you've enjoyed it! See ya next time, and stay frosty my friends.
> 
> -K


End file.
